Is The Title Really The Point Here?
by Lacey M Anderson
Summary: One minute I'm banging some chick in the girls' bathroom, the next some tiny, blushing idiot walks in. And just like that I love her. I, Paul Lahote infamous ladies man, love her. Is it true love? Is it fate? No. It's imprinting. And I hate it already.OC!
1. Chapter 1

**Whee! I don't know why I'm even bothering with another story when I barely have time for my first one. But I can't get this idea out of my head. Enjoy and review! Remember I don't really own any of this except Di. **

Chapter One: Worlds Away

If I had an e-harmony profile it would probably tell you my name (Diana Byrne), my age (16) and my likes/dislikes, (photography, painting/ everything else). It would tell you that I don't talk much and when I do it's always a little too blunt. It would tell you my location (Boston). It would probably have a picture of me. Me being a 5'4", pale shrimp of a thing with a head of dark, fluffy waves streaked with blonde, little pink lips and distracted brown eyes. What it wouldn't tell you is that I'm newly orphaned. The last time I saw my mother was when I came out of her. She passed away giving birth to me. My father was never quite the same after she died but he stayed strong and worked hard to support me until the end. The end came too soon and by his own hand. Is it a little disturbing that the first thing I did when I walked in on my father's body, hanging on a rope from the attic rafters, was take out a camera and start taking pictures of him? Is it even worse that I sat down and drew him, suspended and blue, for three hours before calling the cops? I sat in that same spot after they took his body away, all that night and the next day, thumbing the canister of film that had the pictures of him on it. I'd gone catatonic, according to the state appointed psychologist. Whatever that means.

That was three weeks ago. After receiving the call from his lawyer and the check from the insurance company, I sold the house and all his things. I only kept a picture of my mom and him, a reminder of happier times. Now I was being taken to Forks, Washington to live with an estranged aunt. I'd be worlds away from this place, from that attic.

The long flight to Forks gave me time to think about what was next. I hadn't ever had a relationship with my father. He could never look at me without crying, said I looked too much like her. So I spent as much time out of the house as I possibly could. Drawing, taking pictures and the like. After a while I made friends who were artists like me. They came and went, all headed to New York to make it big. I wouldn't have that option. All I had were my clothes, cameras and some lady named Debra Moore who I'd never seen or spoken to. But I'd only have to live with her for two years and then I could book a flight to the city of lights. I smiled, my mood lifting. This sad, pathetic excuse of a life I'd had was over. I was in a limbo now and would be for exactly 730 more days.

I stumbled off the plane temporarily forgetting how to walk lugging my carryon. Unfortunately said carryon didn't have anything of use to me. Not an ID, dollar bill or phone. It was full of my favorite cameras, film, expensive brushes, pencils and charcoal. Everything I'd need to keep my sanity in a town with a mere 3,532 people. The good thing about Forks was that it had a completely different setting. I could now paint forests and wildlife instead of concrete and people. The bad thing was that it was cut off from civilization. I shook these thoughts out of my head and walked toward baggage claim. My bags were easy to tell apart from everyone else's, considering the fact that they were splattered with paint. I grinned when I realized it had been a smart idea to do that, it took me a few minutes to weave through the crowds and grab them. Now came the impossible task of finding my aunt.

I sat down and ruffled through my bags, trying to find my wallet to make a collect call. I'd at least had the common sense to scrawl her number on my arm but it wasn't smart to replace necessary items like a wallet or ID with cameras. I'd been so distracted ruffling through my things that I hadn't noticed the polite tap on my shoulder.

"Diana Byrne?" A slim, long haired woman said tentatively.

"Yeah." I furrowed my brow.

"I'm Debra –uh your Aunt Debra." She corrected.

"Nice to meet you." I squeaked. Go ahead, shoot me for being nervous.

"Nice to meet you too. Here let me help you with your bags." She bent down and helped me close the bag.

It wasn't until we were in the car that I got a good look at her. She was thin with long brown hair and splashes of gray. Her glasses did nothing to hide her big blue eyes framed with thick lashes. Aunt Debra also talked with her hands a lot and her copper bracelets constantly jingled. I'd been so distracted staring at her that I didn't even notice she was talking to me.

"Hello? I said don't you want to know how I knew it was you?" She smiled and I nodded, not wanting to squeak again.

"You look exactly like your mother." Aunt Debra said softly.

"How long until we get there?" I changed the subject quickly.

"A few hours unfortunately. I live on the edge of society." She whined, earning a giggle out of me.

I fell asleep with the MP3 player in my ears, knowing that she would probably talk enough for the both of us. As promised, Aunt Debra shook me awake three hours later. I yawned and stretched before exiting the car. A note about Forks…it's surrounded by clouds and green. Literally. The house before me was on the border of a (probably) never-ending forest, I sighed and dragged my luggage inside. Aunt Debra did some more talking at me, giving me a tour of the house before stopping at a door. I thanked her silently for leaving me alone. The room I was going to be living in for the next 730 days was much better than my old room. It was completely white and I was eager to start decorating it. First I'd have to unpack. An hour of folding, hanging and tucking away later I was done. I looked at my clock and smiled when I saw what time it was. There were a few hours before the sun set, prime time to take pictures. I yanked on a sweater and carefully placed all the cameras in my carry-on on top of my bed before selecting my 1942 Argus C3. I also grabbed a 7D and a Holga Pinhole, sliding my head through them as well. I jammed a few rolls of film in my pocket before placing the only aluminum film canister, the one with my dad on it, in my pocket as well. I could feel tears pricking my eyes but I blinked them away and bounded downstairs. No sense wasting perfectly good picture taking time, thinking about stupid things. I almost slammed into Debra…Aunt Debra I guess. That would take a while to get used to.

"Whoa, whoa whoa! Where's the fire?" She laughed.

"Sorry. I wanted to get a few rolls of film." I forced myself to sound sheepish and pointed to the three camera's dangling off my neck.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Aunt Debra started, "It's just that the woods are dangerous. This isn't Boston. There are bears and wolves out there not to mention you could easily get lost."

"I'll be fine." I asserted, eager to get out of the house.

"I can't exactly say no to you but here, take this bag. And promise me you'll stick to the trails." Her face was desperate so I nodded before taking the leather messenger bag and walking out of the house.

I practically ran through the forest, only stopping when I got on the paths Debra had begged me to stay on. I grabbed the pinhole first and snapped a few pictures but frowned. The trees in this area weren't as dense as I thought they'd be and the animals were almost non-existent. It was too commercialized. The leather bag bumped into my thigh and I stopped to inspect it. I contained a laugh when I saw what was in there. Maps of the trails in Forks and the neighboring town, La Push, color coded by 'danger level'. A compass, heavy duty LED flashlight with extra batteries, dried food, water bottles, a blanket, a lighter. At the very top sat a flare gun. That's right. A freaking flare gun. I took out a few maps and carefully put everything back, praying for the flare gun not to go off. I mean that could happen? It's possible, right? No? I guess being weird and paranoid.

I suddenly realized how silly I was for talking to myself. I came out here for a reason. My lips silently moved, reading the map. If I cut straight across, heading west, I could be in La Push within a matter of minutes. Almost all the trails in La Push were labeled black, being the most dangerous. I laughed at my Aunt's fear. It probably wasn't anything to be concerned about. I stuffed the maps back in their rightful place, grabbed the Argus this time and snapped more pictures.

"Love of mine, someday you will die. But I'll be close behind I'll follow you into the dark." I sang softly, feeling at peace.

After a while I was halfway through a roll of film and on the border of La Push and Forks. I stopped and looked up to see the usually cloudy Washington weather was rewarding me with a few rays of sunlight. The bands of light filtered through the canopy of trees and I raised the pinhole, taking at least a dozen pictures. It was so beautiful. I almost regretted not bringing my sketch book with me. My gaze dropped down and I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye.

All those warnings came back of bears and wolves, things that go bump in the night. I slowly turned around, holding my breath. I let it go when I realized it was just a man but my cheeks flamed red when I saw he was naked. Tall, muscular with a deep tan and cropped hair. He looked comfortable in the chilly weather, whistling an unfamiliar tune. His eyes went to the sky and my hands went for the 7d around my neck, silently capturing this moment. He sighed and searched for something in the bushes before pulling something blue out, I squinted and walked forward for a closer look but inwardly-cursed when I stepped on a crunchy leaf.

"Embry, leave me the hell alone. I don't care for all this imprint business and you know it." He boomed, not turning to look even once.

Boy he would be disappointed when he saw I wasn't this Embry character. I remained silent, cataloging the word 'imprint' in the back of my mind.

"No comment? What a terrible friend you are! Can't even comfort me…" Mystery-Man whined dramatically before walking away.

I didn't breathe until he left. That was a close call, he could have had me arrested for trespassing. Or worse, come close enough for me to see his hoo-ha (use your imagination for that one). I turned around, ready to make my way back to Forks but slammed into a warm, shirtless thing. I fell on my butt, the film canisters falling out of my sweater pocket.

"Sorry!" He apologized quickly, helping me up.

I stood up, bristling at his offer to help, knowing my eyes were probably popping out of my head. The first thing I noticed was that he was tall, so tall I had to crane my neck up to see his face. And if I didn't I'd be staring at his toned chest, which was the second thing I noticed. He looked at me oddly and opened his mouth to say something.

"How did you get out here?" He started.

"I was just hiking, taking pictures." I looked away, not wanting to stare. This was beyond awkward.

"It's getting kind of dark out. Do you need a ride back to town?"He asked casually.

"I don't even know you." I said quietly.

"I'm Embry." He stuck his hand out and I shook it reluctantly.

Embry motioned for me to follow him and my eyes narrowed. This wasn't a good idea. Wasn't it a little weird to run into two practically naked guys in the woods? Maybe this was some kind of coordinated rape attack or something. But my feet were sore and I wanted to hurry home and ask Aunt Debra about any darkroom's available in the area or possibly converting a room in the house. I curbed my common sense and followed him quickly, the bag bumping into my thigh again. I was practically jogging to keep up with his long strides. He weaved in and out of the trees while I stumbled behind him, not even bothering to look back. He could at least slow down. Eventually the trees thinned out and we were out of the woods completely, standing in front of a red house with two trucks parked in a gravel driveway. Embry paused, considering something before continuing.

"Come on." He led me into the house and I was surprised by how many more naked guys were in there.

There were three shirtless guys lounging around and a woman's distinct voice floating in from the kitchen. The three guys were also like Embry, toned and weirdly tall. It clicked in my mind then. Anabolic steroids. Duh.

"Who's this?" One of them asked and they all turned around, looking a little expectant.

"Debra's neice…I think. Ran into her in the woods." He explained.

"He ran into me." I corrected, narrowing my eyes. How did he know who my aunt was? Maybe this _was_ a coordinated rape.

"You're aunt is a teacher at the reservation's high school. She talked about you coming for a week non-stop." Embry directed at me and I relaxed immediately.

"This is Quil, Jared and Seth." He pointed each of them out.

"I'm Quil Ateara." The wavy headed one repeated in a sensual manner.

"I'm Di." I blinked surprising myself. Why the hell did I tell them my name? I convinced myself that it was only so they wouldn't have to know me as 'debra's neice'.

"Who's this?" The woman came in from the kitchen and I stiffened.

She had perfect copper skin and glossy, black hair. There were three long scars running down her face, pulling down the corner of her eye and mouth. But there was a hopeful, almost eager look on her face. I looked away expertly and waited for Embry to explain. But he never came to my rescue, he had disappeared from the room altogether.

"That's Di, Embry brought her around after she ran into him in the woods. He's giving her a ride back to town. It's not what you think." Seth, the gangly one, piped up.

"He ran into me." I rolled my eyes, getting a little annoyed with being ignored.

"Oh." She sounded a little disappointed but smiled anyway before slipping back into the kitchen.

I fiddled with my hair until Embry came back out. He had changed into dark jeans and a t-shirt, rattling a pair of keys in his hand. I politely said goodbye and followed him out the truck.

"Sorry about that." He apologized when we were in the car.

"If you don't mind my asking, what were you doing running around out in the woods in the dark?" He laughed.

"Trespassing. Taking pictures." I replied, getting a grin out of him.

"You've got dedication. Anything could have happened out there. I hope you got what you wanted." Embry said.

"Yeah. The problem will be developing the film though. I don't have the same access to a darkroom like I did back home and I would rather do it myself." My hand hovered toward the pocket and I screamed when I realized it was empty.

"It's okay, I'm sure you can use the darkroom at La Push High." He said startled at my reaction.

"We have to go back. Turn around, we have to go back!" I didn't care how desperate I sounded. I was so dumb, I'd left all my film in dirt in the middle of the woods. I'd left my dad out there.

"Relax, relax. The canisters that fell on the ground, that's what you're freaking out about right? I'll get it myself later tonight. You can stop by Emily's house tomorrow and pick it up." He reassured.

"I could care less about the others, just find the aluminum one." I sighed, forcing myself to calm down.

Breathe Di, breathe. Embry would have it taken care of. I remembered how easily he'd maneuvered around the woods for comfort. Finding them should be easy right?

"Alright, aluminum. Got it." He seemed happier now that I wasn't as frantic.

"Pull into here." I instructed.

I thanked him, remembering my manners and was surprised when he took the key out of the ignition and got out of the car with me.

"What are you doing?" I asked in disbelief.

"Saying hi to my favorite teacher." Embry rolled his eyes and leaped up the steps before knocking on the door. I followed warily.

"Embry Call what did I say about visiting me?" My aunt's voice was stern but her face was smiling.

"Good to see you too Ms. Moore, I was actually just here to drop off your niece. She was pulling a 'Crucible', dancing around and singing in the woods before running into me." He laughed, running a hand through his hair.

"You ran into me!" I threw my hands up in frustration, you're kidding me right?

"Well, good to see you get reactions out of her. Most of what I say goes in one ear and out the other." Aunt Debra laughed and moved out of the doorway to let me storm into the house.

I swiveled on my heel remembering to remind him of the film.

"Tomorrow, I'll be at Emily's house right after school. Not a minute later." I half-heartedly threatened him.

In all honesty I was kind of feeling…grateful. Besides if he didn't bring it, I could always sic my aunt on him. Dinner with Aunt Debra was less awkward than I thought it would be, mostly because I forced myself to be friendly. I didn't want her thinking I didn't appreciate what she was doing for me. It worked, she was in a pretty good mood. At least in a good enough mood to let me tag along with her to high school up at the reservation tomorrow, although she firmly reminded that I'd have to go to school at Forks the next day. I didn't care, one day in a dark room was all I needed.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I hugged her tightly for the first time, ignoring the fact that it caught her by surprise. I wasn't that big of a bitch for her to be shocked that I hugged her.

"How was your hike?" She asked, still surprised.

"Oh it was fantastic. I really like the setting out here and I kind of regretted not bringing a sketch book. I went through a bunch of rolls of film so I'm sure one of them will be good enough. I just have to hope for the best tomorrow in the darkroom. I was wondering if there were any shops that specialized in photography around here? Oh yeah and I also found this really cool spot to take pictures, all that's left is finding it again but I'm sure if I get you to threaten to fail Embry he'll do it." I was rambling, once you got me started about art you couldn't get me to stop.

"I'm glad to hear that. There should be a shop or two in Port Angeles if not, I'm afraid you're only option will be to go to Seattle. It's about a five hour drive. Also I'm not using my teaching position to threaten Embry! He'd take you if you were a little nicer. A little less…candid." She worded carefully.

"Oh alright if you want to do it the hard way." I humored her, taking no offense to her largely accurate description of me.

I went upstairs after that, exhausted. It was so much effort, being friendly, outgoing and sparing people's feelings. Why couldn't the entire world just be straight-forward, honest? There were a lot less words involved that way. I changed into my teenage mutant ninja turtles pajama's and looked through the Canon 7d to see what pictures I'd taken. I stopped on the picture of the naked guy. Paul I think. What the hell was wrong with him? Walking around, naked in this weather? I was blushing though and I scolded myself for having a reaction in the first place. If I wanted to make it anywhere as an artist I couldn't be blushing at male anatomy. It was art and it was a beautiful picture. I decided I'd develop it and give him a copy tomorrow. I fell asleep thinking about what developing process I'd have at my disposal tomorrow and how he would react to it.

**A/N: **

**What did you think? Diana is kind of different compared to Lacey huh? I've always wanted to do a story about Paul though so hopefully if this generates enough interest and I can manage my time better this will be a long one. So please, review, review, review! Next chapter will have the imprint. **

**hugs'n'kisses, **

**Lacey **


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you ****so so much**_Jazzlvr123_**, **_Xx-Red-as-a-Ruby-xX_**,**_ Karategurl97_**, **_A Rose's Blush_** and **_Blackie Blueness_**. And thank you to anyone else who read! Review pwease.**

**Also, I apologize for all the grammar errors in the previous chapter. It could have something to do with the fact that I usually write really late at night but that's no excuse. It should be fixed by tomorrow. Hopefully this one has less errors. Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I own nada except for Diana. **

Chapter Two: I Should Have Held It In

I woke up the next day, very eager to get to La Push. I hopped in and out of the shower, letting my fluffy waves dry naturally. They fell to my shoulders and I admired them, black with violent blond streaks, in the mirror for a minute before the excitement came back. A sloppy bun would be more practical for a long day in the darkroom. I finished my makeup in two seconds flat, a quick swish of mascara and eyeliner was all I really needed. Silver tree branch earrings went in each ear and I smiled when they twinkled in the dim lighting of the bathroom. The next challenge was finding clothes. I didn't have to be a rocket scientist to realize how overdressed my entire wardrobe was. All my friends and I were pretty fashion conscious, it was perfectly normal in Boston. What had once upon a time been a healthy shoe obsession was now ridiculous. Everyone here dressed sensibly, nobody seemed to bother with trends. I sighed and settled on a grey t-shirt with a lace, Mickey Mouse design on it. I tiptoed downstairs to check the weather and groaned when I saw they were predicted it to take a turn for the worse later in the day. I ran back upstairs, hearing my aunt stir and not wanting her to see me prancing around in my underwear and a t-shirt. A black bag was next to my bed and I frowned. I hadn't put it there last night. In fact I had never seen it before. I opened it and found an olive green parka, not my style but definitely practical. I silently thanked my aunt and pulled on boyfriend jeans, ironic since I had yet to actually get a boyfriend. That didn't matter though, I couldn't afford to lose sight of what was really important. 729 days left.

I distractedly put on grey heels which were, in my defense, the least obnoxious shoes had. Okay, okay maybe I wore heels today because I secretly hoped it would be enough to _not _feel dwarfed next to Embry. He had to be at least 6' 4", humongous. Putting the three cameras I'd used yesterday in a black hobo bag and their individual film canisters left me with a pain in my heart. I couldn't believe I easily forgot one of the only things left of my dad in some dirt. I might possibly be the worst daughter on the planet. I forced a cheerful expression there was no need to punish myself because I'd get it back today. Thank you, thank you powers that be for leading me to Embry the friendly forest guide. By the time I came out of my room my aunt was up and ready to go, rattling her keys and pointing to the clock. No time for breakfast.

If she expected me to be as cheerful as last night, she was sorely mistaken. I remind tight lipped in the car. If I opened my mouth it would only lead to trouble, I was well aware of how cranky I could be without food. I was, again, grateful for Aunt Debra's talkative nature. She chattered the whole ride there, not realizing how much of a one-sided conversation this was.

"Alright so the school is pretty small, finding the dark room shouldn't be so hard but just in case you can go to the office and ask for Mr. Fuhrer. He is the media arts teacher and you can just name drop to get him to let you use it. He's a little sweet on me. Embry has history with me right before lunch so you can stop by my class, room 305, and ask for him. Lunch is around 11:40 or so. Just follow the crowds or your nose and you should get to the cafeteria with ease. I'll hassle him to introduce you to his friends, they're good kids but they keep to themselves. You'll be like a breath of fresh air."

"I'm not a toddler. I'll be fine." I said, regretting it when I saw the hurt look on her face.

"What I mean is there's nothing to worry about. I can manage but thank you." I quickly corrected myself and she gave me a tired smile.

Aunt Debra jumped out of the car when she heard a bell ring and ran into the building waving goodbye. I was stunned, I didn't really expect her to ditch me that quickly. But wait…I was just telling her to leave me. This was good right? Wrong. I had nobody to protect me from everyone else. I forced myself to smile and ignore the stares I was getting from everyone. And trust me…they really stared. It was like swimming in a shark tank, they all glared at me. Maybe it was the clacking of my heels against the tile floors or maybe it was because I was a dizzy little white girl amongst a bunch of tan, Amazonian gods. It was probably the second one. I located the 'Administration' sign and walked towards it quickly, hoping not to be noticed. But my heels were like bullets against the floor and it only caused more people to stare. Purpose defeated.

"Hi, I'm wondering where I can find Mr. Fuhrer?" I mumbled.

"He should be in room 215." The Secretary said in a friendly tone.

I thanked her and made my way out of the office, groaning when the hushed whispers of the students gave way to silence. A fly breaking wind would have been heard, I kid you not. I kept my head low and made a hard right into the first hallway possible. Thankfully it was the right one and the room numbers progressed…209…211…213. I stopped at two large double doors labeled 215. I walked in and called out Mr. Fuhrer before a wiry, gray haired man came out of a dark corner. I inspected him carefully, taking in the full head of hair and copper skin. He looked around 46 and was dressed in a stained button down and slacks.

"Yes?" He put on his glasses and looked at me with equal caution.

"I'm Debra's uhh Ms. Moore's niece. I was wondering if I could use your darkroom for a few hours, she assured me that name dropping would give me full access." I gave him a tiny smile.

"Why of course, my dear." A bright smile overtook his face and he turned on the lights.

The room was covered in a layer of dust and smelled like vanilla. There were a dozen computers in the room, dingy and last year's model. But the photos decorating the room were breathtaking. Color me thoroughly impressed. He led me inside the darkroom and my eyes were already adjusting to the amber light in the room. I inhaled deeply, delighted when the smell of the chemicals lingered in my nose. I thanked him and took off my parka, setting it on a chair. I didn't even notice there was someone else in the room.

"Hey." A deep voice came.

"Jesus!" I cursed, laughing before I could stop myself.

The figure shuffled around before turning the enlarger's lamp on. I finally got a glance at his features noting the typical native features of copper skin and dark hair. He was tall, not freakishly tall like Embry, but still tall. His long hair was tied back and he was wearing a faded Motley Crue t-shirt, jeans and boat shoes. The thirty-seconds of light were gone and darkness enveloped us again. I made a move to turn the lamp on again but pulled my hand back quickly when I brushed his. Awkward Woman strikes again!

"I'm Cameron." He held his hand out.

"Diana." I tried to look confident but I knew I probably looked constipated so I stopped.

We stood there just looking at each other for a bit before I remembered why I was awake at this ungodly hour in the first place. Enough dilly-dallying, I scolded myself. I slid the black bag off my shoulder and laid my cameras on a table. Eventually my eyes adjusted to the dark again and I could see Cameron by two, big plastic bins sloshing paper around in chemicals with a pair of tongs. I took the film out of each camera and found a box labeled 'DO NOT EXPOSE', full of photographic paper. I grabbed a stack of it and cut it to size using the ancient paper trimmer, careful not to knick my fingers on the rusty blade. It took a little while for me to get into the habit of exposing the pictures with a person in the room with me, the silence only made it worse. I was done with a stack after what felt like an agonizing hour. I reminded myself not to be so melodramatic. It was probably more like 15 minutes but the tension in the room was killer. This was one of those moments where social skills were a definite plus.

"So…are you a new student? I'm usually the only person in here." He broke the tension.

"No. I just came here to use the darkroom." I said briskly.

"Cool. Mr. Fuhrer prefers the C-41 process, just to let you know." Cameron said lightly

"Really?" My hands froze over the tongs and he 'mmhmm'd.

Shit I should have known better. This wasn't like back home where I had an array of crap to use. I couldn't do any cross-processing or even try Ilfochrome. I was beyond disappointed. All of the pictures were suddenly useless and if Cameron thought it was weird when I angrily tossed half of my paper in the waste bin, he was smart enough not to say anything about it. There were still a few pictures sitting in the developer and I was stunned to see the picture George Of The Jungle came out nicely. In fact it came out beyond nice, it was pretty amazing if I do say so myself. I was so caught up with getting that one picture to come out perfect that the other ones came out overdeveloped. I tossed them with no remorse. Distantly I heard a bell ring and cursed.

"What time is it?" I asked him.

"Around 11:35, why? You got somewhere you have to be?" He replied.

"Yes." Came my curt response, I was busy patting the final rinse off on my shirt.

I gathered my cameras and film, throwing them all in the bag and grabbing my parka before scrambling out of the room. Aunt Debra was probably worried about me, I kind of told her I'd check in with her before lunch. And there was, of course, Embry to worry about and the picture. I didn't end up making two copies of it but it was okay. I was the one with the film after all. I found Aunt Debra's room easily, not caring that everyone was eyeing the weirdo in the heels scuttling through their hallways.

"Aunt Debra!" I poked my head in her room and found a few students still lingering, talking with her as if they were old friends. I reminded myself to talk to her about the weird teacher-student relationships she had later on.

"Hey, come in!" She waved me in but I shook my head.

"I just wanted to check in with you before lunch, I know I was supposed to earlier but I got caught up in the darkroom." I ignored the tiny pout on her face and tucked the picture behind my back.

"Alright." She sounded disappointed.

"I'd stay and chat but I didn't have breakfast this morning." I pointed out and she immediately told me to run down to the lunchroom, angry that I had gone without food this long.

"Nearest bathroom?" I ran back in her room, biting my lip.

"Next to the lunchroom, scurry off now." Aunt Debra shoo'ed me away.

I listened to her for once and I saw the bathroom next to the lunchroom, as promised. I opened the door and got in a stall, struggling to hold it in. Curse this tiny bladder! I made it just in time, scrunching my pants down and letting a contented sigh escape my lips. I stood and zipped up my jeans, flushing the toilet. I was looping my bag on my shoulder when I heard the door slam open. I froze and listened closely. What the….there was this….wet sound. I grimaced when I heard a girl giggle and a rough growl. Do I open the door and kill their mood? Or stay in the bathroom and wait it out? I had to contain a gag when I heard the girl moan. Repulsive. But I carefully put the toilet seat down and sat, hugging my knees to my chest so they wouldn't see my shoes. The stall next to me banged open and I let a tiny whimper escape. They didn't seem to hear it and continued rattling next to me.

After a gruesome minute passed I heard the distinct noise of zipper and I decided it was enough. It was fucking disgusting and I didn't know why I had to put up with it. I let my feet down and opened the door, sure enough they paused for a bit and listened. I silently washed my hands, at least they had the decency to stop. Oh…no wait. False alarm, the humping resumed. A hot anger rose up in my gut and before I knew what I was doing I couldn't stop.

I didn't know what made me do it, maybe it was because I was sick of this weird ass high school full of kids that stared, photography teachers that only had students develop their pictures one way and horndogs that didn't have the courtesy stop sucking each other off long enough for me to get out of the bathroom. I raised a hand and rapped on the door, tapping my feet impatiently. I sure as hell didn't expect Romeo and Juliet to open the door. The color drained from my face when I saw an angry George Of The Jungle, with his pants down (yet again) and some red faced girl.

The moment we made eye contact, his facial expression changed and we locked eyes. I don't exactly know how to describe what happened next but let me clarify one thing…I do _not_ believe in love at first sight. In fact, I don't even believe in lust at first sight. Or any of that crap for a matter. Cross my heart and call me a nun. But that first second I looked at George Of The Jungle a feeling came over me. To say it hit me like a ton of bricks doesn't do it justice. To say it hit me like a train is getting there. An ocean liner is a little more accurate. Do you know when you're just waking up, in between that state of sleep and alert? And you try to wake yourself up but you can't move? It feels like an anvil is just sitting on your chest and it's slowly getting heavier and heavier. And for a brief moment you wonder if you'll ever be able to move, you consider life as a paraplegic. That description is dead right. I could already see myself, blinking twice for yes and once for no.

A second later I found the strength to move and the first thing I did was avert my gaze from his hoo-ha.

"I –I'm so sorry." Stammering an apology was the second thing.

"Are you done?" The girl said rudely.

I looked up to catch his reaction and was shocked. He threw her a look of pure venom and growled. His fists were balled up and he was shaking in anger. I was suddenly horrified. Great. Not only did I walk in on a porn set but now it morphed into a domestic violence case. He stopped, immediately sensing my terror and whipped around to face me, looking concerned. Wrong move.

"You just waved your dick at me!" I cried out and covered my eyes.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry. I didn't even," He stopped apologizing and narrowed his eyes, recognition flashing in his eyes, "No. I'm not sorry. It's your own damn fault for pounding on the door and being nosy. What the hell were you expecting to see?"

I felt like I had been slapped.

"Close your mouth before the flies get in." George Of The Jungle looked like he was pain when he said that but it came out anyway.

"Goodbye." I ran out of the bathroom, feeling suffocated.

There wasn't enough air out there to satisfy my lungs and I stumbled, light headed. That was the absolute worst experience of my life. I've never felt more awkward or appalled in my life. Who did he think he was, yelling at me for _his_ indecency? He's the one that opened the door. He could have just yelled, 'ocupado' and I would have come to senses long enough to hightail it out of there. Besides, I was in the bathroom first! The self-righteous sneer on his face was stuck in my mind. And suddenly it was in my face too. He had actually followed me out of the bathroom and was now standing in front of me, clothed thankfully. His mouth opened and I promptly walked away. I was most definitely not in the mood to hear his voice. I was hungry and tired, this entire excursion was useless because only one of my pictures came out right. And that single picture wasn't even mine, it was George's. So excuse me if I didn't feel like dealing with that conceited jerk.

"Wait, come back. I'm not done with you." His voice called after me, effectively silencing everyone in the lunchroom.

Which lead me to Evasive Maneuver #16, ignore it and it'll go away. I grabbed a lunch tray and stacked it high with food. But he still trailed after me, the stupid puppy. I gave the lunch lady a wad of bills, not caring that it was way too much. I just had to get away from him as quickly as possible. But he was still buzzing around my ear, the stupid fly. I stopped abruptly in the lunchroom, realizing I had nowhere to sit. I knew nobody at this school except Embry and George. And after what just happened in the bathroom, there was no way I was going back to eat in there. I should have just held it in. Speaking of George he chose that precise moment of panic to slam into me. The mere force of his 'accidental' bump caused me to pitch forward, crying as I watched my food crash to the ground. I braced myself for impact but it never came. Instead a warm arm snaked around my waist and jerked me back up. Harsh whispers broke out immediately and I felt the red creeping up my face when I realized his arm was still there. I whipped around and saw George with a relaxed expression on his face.

"What can I help you with?" I hissed, slapping the offending hand away.

He didn't say anything, just stood there with his stupid smile. Now let me pause right here to say that my e-harmony profile (remember that?) wouldn't describe me as emotional. In fact I was cool-headed, the kind of person that enjoys quietly seething. I don't like to raise my voice, sarcasm and dry humor are my greatest weapons and if I find the situation to be hopeless I usually just make a weird noise, laugh and walk away. But George of The Jungle had acquired a talent for pushing my buttons.

"Paul!" I heard a very familiar voice.

"Embry." My annoyed expression melted into one of relief.

I walked over to his table, full of equally large and freakish guys. They were all oogling me like I was the new shiny toy or something. It was weird, even by the standards of this school. When Paul came over to the table and placed his arm around my waist, again, their jaws literally dropped. Several of them spit out their food and choked on their milk.

"You did _not_!" Embry cried out.

I clenched my jaw and carefully moved his hand away, treating it like garbage. In my defense, I had no idea where his hands had been. I had also just caught him doing-the-dirty with some girl in the bathroom. Pardon me if I wasn't exactly happy that he was touching me.

"Quil go call Sam. Now!" I recognized the wavy-headed one from yesterday, he was taking orders from another guy, name unknown.

He got up immediately, sprinting out of the lunchroom. My eyes also skimmed over two other familiar figures.

"Seth and Jared right?" I blurted out and they looked at me like I had grown a second head.

"Yeah. As if you could forget." Seth gave me an exaggerated wink.

I rolled my eyes but George of The Jungle's arm was around me again, this time he pulled me against him and _growled_. Last straw? I think yes. I shoved his (probably) filthy arm off me and danced away from him when he tried it again.

"Stop touching me Paul." I said evenly.

A hurt expression crossed his face but it fell off his face, quickly replaced by hatred.

"Don't flatter yourself. I'm just making sure you don't fall and embarrass yourself…again. I wouldn't willingly touch you with a ten-foot pole." He smirked.

That loathsome, arrogant, oaf! Groping me one minute and insulting me the next. I walked right up to him and stomped on his foot before glaring up at him, ignoring the pain in my neck. He growled again at me and his eyes turned dangerously dark. Embry pulled me back to him before throwing Paul a sheepish look.

"You guys know each other?" Jared raised a brow in disbelief.

"She walked in on Corbin and I. The little prude was blushing but she got a good view of my dic-" Paul stared me down the entire time and I couldn't help but squirm.

"It wouldn't be the first time, since you enjoy strolling through the woods in the nude." I snapped before he could say it.

That shut him up. Actually…that shut them all up. They looked a little shocked. I threw the picture at him and he caught it before an unexpected smile broke out.

"When did you take this? It's good." Paul's voice was soft now.

"Right before I ran into him." I pointed to Embry who looked sheepish again.

"Speaking of which, where the hell's my film?" I faced him and contained my frustration when he kept the sheepish grin plastered.

"I've got the others but I've been having trouble errr locating the aluminum one." Embry shot a disarming smile at me.

I rolled my eyes. If he thought he could get by with his charm, he was sadly mistaken.

"Find it. I'll be over later today, to see if you're slacking." I said before walking away, feigning confidence under Paul's gaze.

I couldn't keep up the façade for long though, because as soon as I was out of that lunchroom I ran to the darkroom. Something about the way George Of The Jungle was staring…it was unsettling. I burst into the room, scaring the hell out of Cameron.

"What's your deal?" He croaked.

"Uhh….nothing. I was just in a hurry to get something I left behind." I groped for something, _anything_, in the dark.

Cameron turned the enlarger's lamp on and almost laughed when he saw the rusted paperclip in my hands.

"Really? This is what you sprinted all the way down here for?" The smile grew inch by inch when he saw my obvious discomfort.

"Will you shut up about the paperclip? I need you to tell me something." I fixed a threatening look on my face but gave up when his shoulders started to shake in laughter.

"Something. Are we done here?" He repeated sarcastically.

"No. I need you to tell me something about someone." I smiled anyway, he had a decent sense of humor.

"Paul." I gave him a name and carefully watched his reaction.

Cameron's cheerful expression faded into one of disgust. Uh oh. This didn't look good.

"Paul Lahote? The devil incarnate. To put it plainly he's about the biggest asshole on the planet. He treats women like shit, constantly disregards others. He has no sense of respect for anything. Riddled with disease, the cockiest fuck on the planet. All the girls gush over him and I'm pretty sure he's slept with the entire female population in La Push, Forks and Port Angeles. Twice. Why?" He looked worried at my curiosity.

"Nothing, you just vindicated my intense dislike of him." I laughed.

"Just doing my civic duty." He shrugged.

"I'm going to skip out now but thank you for confirming my hunch." I made a move to the door.

"Wait…I'll see you around right?" Cameron said, full of hope.

"Well considering the fact that this is the only darkroom within a 15 mile radius, the answer to your question would be a yes." I swallowed the bitterness in my tone.

I walked out, still hungry. Maybe I could risk another trip to the lunchroom? I popped my head in and scanned vigorously for the all-too familiar, freakishly tall figures that I had come to loath. Lady Luck was on my side because it seemed Paul and his delinquents had cleared out of the lunchroom but a janitor armed with a mop was grumbling over the mess I had caused. I know you're not supposed to cry over spilled milk, or food in my case, but still…I was so famished. I nervously went to the lunch lady who I'd tossed my money at.

"I kind of need to eat." I said awkwardly.

"Go ahead and grab what you like. Seeing as how you threw all that money at me and spilled your lunch because of that boy." Lunch Lady Ruth gave me a smile and I almost kissed her in gratitude.

So now here I am, sitting outside the school with a bunch of food, a sketch book and mp3 player plugged in my ears. I was in the zone, hunched over the paper with my forehead scrunched in concentration. I wasn't really sure what I was drawing, my hands were just moving across the pad, smudging when necessary, erasing where needed. All I could think about was George errr should I say Paul. He was infuriating but now that I had food in my system and I was a little calmer, I could tell why all the girls liked him. As ugly as he was inside (trust me it was real hideous) he made up for it in the looks department. And then some. He had a mess of charcoal hair, a thin nose and cheekbones that jutted like there was no tomorrow. He also had a square jaw and a permanent smirk on his face. A smirk that I would gladly slap off. Not to mention the muscles and the height. No one knew anything about him except for the fact that he was some smart-mouthed brat that fucked anything with a pulse. He was a mystery. His friends seemed nice enough although they were just as annoyed with Paul as I was. I couldn't help it though. The five minute encounter I had with him was enough for me to crown him. I had yet met anyone in my life that could get under my skin like he did.

With all this talk of how much I hate Paul Lahote, it was more than surprising when I snapped out of my trance and saw the face staring back at me from my sketch pad. It was him. I admired my work for a second, it was dead on. The smirk, the sneer, the stupid glint in his eye. I was good, but it didn't matter. His face was still on the paper and I couldn't have that, so I ripped it off and folded my beautiful work of art into a fortune teller. I was so busy thinking up stupid things to write about that it surprised me when I felt someone sit down next to me.

"Hello." Speak of the devil…or I guess sketch?

I froze and slowly folded the flaps of the fortune teller. To me it wouldn't be weird to have drawn Paul. He was physically fit. But to him it would probably come off as 'yet another stalker, except this one has talent'. There was no need for his ego to get even bigger. I looked at him in what I hoped would be a bored expression. I had already decided I'd grunt or give him yes or no answers. Conversation would be kept to minimum and hopefully he'd get the picture.

"We haven't properly met but my name is Paul Lahote." He held his hand out.

"I know." I stared his hand down until it fell back to his side and he cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Do you….hate me?" Paul asked quickly.

I shook my head furiously, caught off guard. I wasn't used to conversations with people as frank as me. This was weird.

"So you dislike me?" He prompted and I made a noise that sounded like 'I dunno'. I could practically hear him grind his teeth in frustration. But I had answered truthfully. I really didn't know if I disliked Paul because I didn't really know Paul. But from what I knew of him thus far, I didn't particularly like him.

"I just want to know if anyone got to you. They talk. A lot. And half the time they don't know what the hell they're saying." Paul mumbled.

I rolled my eyes, there he goes on an ego trip. Again. Hopefully he could interpret my silence as disbelief. Or annoyance. It didn't really matter.

"Then tell me what I did wrong. Tell me what I did to make you hate me." He insisted.

"You kept fucking that girl while I was in the bathroom." I said slowly. One sentence, I had allowed him one sentence.

"Not that again! God, you're such a prude. It's high school. What the hell were you thinking knocking on the door anyway?" Paul seemed exasperated at first but he grew curious. I shook my head. He accepted the answer, but not without throwing me a glare.

"You would be covered, head to toe, in food right now if it weren't for me. I saved your life." He laughed.

"More like nosy." I said flatly. This wasn't even a sentence…it was more like a fragmented sentence or phrase really. I comforted myself with this thought and returned to the conversation.

"You, of all people, are calling me nosy?" Paul asked but I sensed it was one of those 'rhetorical questions' so I shrugged.

"What does that even mean! God you're infuriating. Are you so socially awkward that conversations are impossible? Grunting, shrugging and nodding at me isn't talking." Paul took a few deep breaths to compose himself and I had to stop myself from commenting on how I sorely underestimated his vocabulary.

"What were you drawing?" He asked after an awkward silence.

"You were watching me?" Shit. I had given him another sentence. My hands instinctively went for the fortune teller next to me but Paul was faster. In a quickly blur of russet motion his hand had shot out and grabbed it before I could.

"What's this?" He asked playfully inspecting it.

"Give it back Paul." I warned him, not caring that we were now having a full on conversation, not caring that I was splayed across his lap in my pathetic attempt to retrieve it.

"She speaks. O, speak again, bright angel! For thou art as glorious to this night, being o'er my head,  
>as is a winged messenger of heaven." Paul teased.<p>

My hand froze mid-air and I realized he had actually quoted Shakespeare at me. He took advantage of this hesitation and unfolded the fortune teller. I fell back to my spot immediately, pursing my lips in distaste. He had already won, why was I making a fool of myself with this? _Because it's cute, just like in the movies._ A tiny voice came from the back of my head and I recognized it as my conscious. This was enough to have me blushing.

"_You drew me_?" Paul contained his snickers.

"Keep it." I growled and gathered my stuff together, ready to make my dramatic exit.

"No wait. Don't leave, I think it's cute. I haven't had a girl draw me yet." That was it, this was my breaking point.

"God you're so fucking conceited. Yeah you're hot, is that what you wanted to hear? I find you attractive. Easy on the easy. Fun to look at. In fact, you're gorgeous. Abnormally so. I don't really care for it though, because I can see through it. Your good looks are the thin veneer over your disgusting personality. Who the hell has sex in a high school bathroom? You could at least show poor girl a little respect and fuck her in your car or something. You're like….you're a...you're a manwhore." I spluttered.

"So you agree. You think I'm hot?" Paul gave me a slow smile.

I squawked out of frustration before laughing at him and walking away. The situation was now officially hopeless. I really should have just held it in.

A/N:

W0o0t update! Any Adventure Time fans out here in this lonely, cold, cave of space? I always find myself quoting Finn or Jake and laughing because nobody else understands. Also I really do make weird noises, laugh and walk away when I'm feeling angry. It's fun! The person just leaves you alone after that because they think you're weird for barking/chirping/squawking etc. etc. at them. Expect an update by Wednesday. I'll also have to update my other story this weekend. Ughh. This is much more difficult than I thought it would be.

REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. And I'll try to update by Monday. (:(:

xoxo

L. Anderson


	3. Chapter 3

**So Wednesday becomes Thursday. Whoo! This probably doesn't even count as an update, it's basically the imprint chapter told in Paul's POV. But I had to do it because it gives you the reason why Paul is so bipolar. I also did it just cause. ;) I love you all that reviewed and read. I would do a shout-out for all of you but I usually just reply to your reviews in person. (Because I'm awesome like that.) However I couldn't reply to the following so I'll thank you right now: fhnb and quelle. Muchas gracias for reading and reviewing! **

Chapter Three: Resistance Is Futile

Hi my name is Paul Lahote, I'm a werewolf and I love it. It's pretty self explanatory. Some of the other's hate it, cough, _Jacob_, cough. But I've come to terms with it. After a certain point of griping and the like, it gets pretty tiresome. No amount of groveling, complaining or crying out to the powers that be will ever change the fact that I occasionally bust out into a ball of fur. Not that I'm whining. Nothing but good has come to me since the day I phased. I've gained the friendship and brotherhood of several guys in La Push. There also happens to be some kind of law that states in exchange for being protectors of the tribe we get to be super fast, super strong, super hot and super hot. Literally. A constant temperature of 108 degrees Fahrenheit and an automatic 8 pack. I've always been good looking though. Except now I've got a tattoo and an excuse to walk around half naked.

One look at me and it's easy to tell I'm not exactly the relationship type. Others call it sleeping around or being sleazy but I'm young and free. So what if I have sex a lot? It's not like I'm supposed to be looking for the love of my life. I'm in high school for christ's sake! So what if I treat 95% of girls like shit? I treat them the way they act. And no I'm not an asshole. I'm being honest. I came back to school after a week of having 'mono' and suddenly every girl I ran into is throwing herself at me. They didn't come up to me wanting to be friends or even seeking a relationship. They came up to me wanting to fool around. They titter and giggle, toss their hair this way and that, bend over and rub up on me. I give them a smoldering wink, a slow smile and that's good enough for them. Next thing I know we're tangled like a pair of headphones and they have their hands hooked around the waistband of my boxers. They don't offer me sex. No, no they _bury_me in it. Absolutely zero self respect. Again, not that I'm whining about it. Notorious playboy is an endearing term. I'm just pleasing the masses.

So being a werewolf has more pros than cons. The cons being patrol and a little thing called imprinting. Patrol is, again, pretty self explanatory. Run around as a wolf, sniffing out intruders. Or more specifically blood-suckers. Yesterday, I wouldn't have been able to tell you the first thing about imprinting. I would have given you Sam's (the Alpha of our pack) textbook definition. Imprinting is an involuntary mechanism by which shape-shifters, that would be me, find their soul-mates. It happens instantly, you get one look at her and boom. To quote Sam, 'it's not like love at first sight, really. It's more like gravity moves suddenly. It's not the earth holding you here anymore, she does. You become whatever she needs you to be, whether that's a protector, or a lover, or a friend'. Why, you ask, would imprinting be necessary for a shape-shifter? I don't know. Sam doesn't know. The Council doesn't know. It's like I said before, no amount of groveling, complaining or crying to the powers that be will change the fact that if you're a shape-shifter you'll imprint.

If you've been paying attention to anything I've been thinking for the past few minutes then you'll know why it's a con. Sam talked about imprinting like I would be _lucky_ to have it happen to me. Since when was marriage at first sight considered appealing? I wanted to live a little, explore life. Not have some chick clasped around my leg as a literal and figurative ball and chain. So it's not surprising when I tell you, I wanted to avoid imprinting for as looong as possible. I thought the chances of it happening were slim to none. I'd seen and/or made eye contact (and other kinds of contact) with every girl in La Push, Forks and Port Angeles. Twice, just to be safe. See? There was a method to my madness. By whoring myself out to every female within a 50 mile radius I had guaranteed my safety from the crazy-ness of imprinting. Keyword 'had'.

Today was a regular day, it started out like any other. I had gotten up, a little grumpy, from patrol the night before. Ever since the parasites moved back into town, patrol had started again. The glorious break from running around in the middle of the night as giant wolf only made it worse. Like coming back from school after a three-week break, it only makes you hate it more. Shower, brush teeth, throw on jeans and shirt, pull on boots, kiss mother goodbye, hop on motorcycle and peel out. It was a tiresome routine.

School wasn't much better and I could feel it, in my bones, that today was going to suck. My nerves relaxed when Embry and Jared materialized next to me. We chatted for a bit about how much it sucked to run around now that the blood-suckers were back. But as soon as Jacob came up, we dropped the subject. He was still touchy about Bella, the love of his life. No he hadn't imprinted, he just convinced himself there wasn't another. That stupid sap, all the girls on the reservation wanted to jump his bones and he couldn't stop thinking about some awkward, pale girl who wanted a leech. Wait…I shouldn't have thought that. Jacob would kill me later. Wolf telepathy…a forgotten con.

"Hey Ms. Moore!" I flashed her a bright smile and she waved back.

Ms. Moore was the most in demand teacher at La Push. She taught history but the 50 something minutes spent in her class were usually spent talking about the most random things that she magically connected to whatever the required curriculum was. We once spent the entire block coming up with a brand-new language, easier said than done, and in the last 3 minutes of class she connected the dots to the impact of language in history. The clever little shits in our class that vehemently voted for the word 'fuck' to mean 'the', the most commonly used word in the English language (see what I mean?), were shell shocked. Apparently she had some relative that would be in town, a nephew or something. I made a mental note to say introduce myself, hoping that the apple did of class she connected the dots to the impact of language in history. Apparently she had some relative that would be in town, a nephew or something. I made a mental note to say introduce myself to him, hoping that the apple did not fall far from the family tree.

The first few classes of the day went by without a hitch, although when it was time for history class I was a little disappointed that Ms. Moore didn't seem as into it as usual. There were also rumors circulating about some little paleface wandering around the halls. My usual circle of admirers took a break from gawking at me to talk about her. Most of the girls were aiming for false sympathy as they tutted on and on about her looks and hair. Typical.

"Did you see her? She looked so hopeless!" One of the girls giggled behind my ear and I wanted to laugh at how pathetic they were.

"I don't see how that's important." Jessica, I think, spoke softly and my respect for her rose considerably.

I tuned them out after a while. They were becoming repetitive, taking constant jabs at her frizzy hair and on and on. The bell rang after what seemed to be an eternity and I wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of the classroom. But a throng of girls surrounded Embry and I, cooing and batting lashes to get our attention. I wasn't really in the mood so I fed Embry to the wolves, pun intended, and jogged ahead. I was almost to the lunchroom, homefree, when one of the girls caught my eye. I recognized her as Corbin, a red-headed, half-native and half-paleface vixen. A _great_ lay. When I say great I mean….okay you get the picture. And she wasn't like those other girls, vying for my attention. She just wanted a nice time with no emotions involved. A female Paul. Her face was stoic though when she noticed me looking at her and I made my way over to her, taking my time. This was one of those things that pissed girls off, when you walked slowly, pretending like you might veer off into the opposite direction at any moment. Like you might change your mind. Try as she might, even Corbin couldn't help but fidget.

"Paul Lahote." She said evenly.

"Corbin Fearing." I remembered her name and she attempted to hide the surprise, I wasn't good with names.

Before I knew it I was growling against her neck and her familiar giggle teased my ears. We made our way to the girl's restroom next to the lunchroom, it wasn't exactly elegant or anything but it was private. I pulled her closer to me and kicked open the bathroom stall. A silent whimper floated towards my ears, thanks to enhanced hearing, and paused to listen some more. But Corbin's lips captured mine and I pushed the stupid whimper to the back of my head. Pretty soon we were getting into it and Corbin's hands snaked down to unzip my pants. The noise in the stall next door was suddenly very real. I heard the clacking of heels and the automatic faucet turn on. But apparently this didn't deter Corbin, who resumed our little affair with enthusiasm. We weren't more than a few seconds into it when a sharp knock stopped us. Corbin shook her head and made a move for my lips but I was a little curious. Who the hell would_ willingly_ interrupt two teens from fucking in a bathroom? I looked at the grey heels and quickly crossed off the teacher option. So that left me with a jealous, sex deprived bible thumper. I might as well give her a show. I swung the door open and dropped my gaze down. A messy black bun with stripes of blonde, furious brown eyes, the pinkest lips I'd ever seen and a splash of freckles across her cute button nose. This one look was all it took and suddenly it didn't matter that I was in a bathroom with my pants down and Corbin Fearing next to me. All that mattered was her. I wanted to know her name, her life, _everything_ about her. She was, quite literally, the most important thing. I knew I had a stupid grin on my face but I didn't care. Jane Doe was beautiful and I wanted her. I wanted her more than anything I'd ever wanted in my life. I didn't want to have sex with her. I just wanted to hold her, bask in her presence, know that she was mine and I was hers. I wanted to know her scent and keep her safe, whisper sweet nothings in her ear and twirl her wavy locks around my fingers. I wanted to shout out to the world how much I loved Jane Doe….wait. I loved her? Back your shit up. This couldn't be happening. I tried to fight it, the urge to sweep her into my arms. There was a sudden fire in my gut and all I could think of was Sam's voice, in my head.

"_You feel yourself being pulled towards that person and a heat fills you. The connection with everything else is severed. Nothing else matters. Except her."_

One minute I'm banging some chick in the girls' bathroom, the next some tiny, blushing idiot walks in. And just like that I love her. I, Paul Lahote infamous ladies man, love her. Is it true love? Is it fate. No. It's imprinting. And I hate it already.

"I-I'm so sorry." She stuttered and I melted a little. Yech.

"Are you done?" Corbin scoffed and I immediately felt pissed. Who the hell was she to talk to her like that? As kooky as this imprinting shit was, I couldn't believe it would make me angry enough to want to hit a girl. But I stopped myself because of the new found connection with Jane Doe. She was scared shitless, so I was scared shitless. I turned around, wanting to hug away her worries but Jane Doe grimaced.

"You just waved your dick at me!" She howled, slapping her hands over her eyes.

I started to apologize, even if it was completely out of character, because I felt what she felt. But it was like my conscious finally decided to speak up. And it was telling me to shut up, stop apologizing to the girl. It was telling me to get my shit together, I didn't know who this girl was and no tribal legend was going to change that.

"No. I'm not sorry. It's your own damn fault for pounding on the door and being nosy. What the hell were you expecting to see?" I retorted.

She stood there, a hurt expression on her face. I felt my heart clench and I wanted to vomit because _I _had caused it.

"Close your mouth before the flies get in." She snapped her mouth shut and I wanted to say sorry, I wanted to grab her and simply be. Simply exist, intoxicated by her presence.

"Goodbye." And Jane Doe left, just like that.

The first instinct I had to was to follow but I nearly fell on my face, tripped up by the pants around my ankles. Pulling them up was easy, working the zipper was no problem but disentangling myself from the redhead was an issue.

"Wait. Paul, where are you going?" What was her name again….

"We're done here." I dismissed her and made my way out into the hallway, hoping to catch Jane Doe.

She was standing in the hallway, delicate hands pressed firmly to her loose grey shit where her heart should be. Jane Doe's breathing was shallow and I was worried for a minute. Could this be an asthma attack? Humans were so weak hearted. I started to ask if she was okay but was surprised when she scowled and stormed into the lunchroom.

"Wait, come back. I'm not done with you yet!" I protested.

She kept walking and I followed after, feeling slightly peeved. Did she really think it was this easy? That she could just walk away from me. I'm your imprint, it's supposed to work both ways damn it! But she was stronger than me and she ignored me. She didn't waver, not once. Just continued walking and getting her lunch.

"Come on, will you stop for minute?" I pleaded but her eyes flickered over the options before she shrugged and piled random crap onto a tray.

"It'll take 30 seconds…okay 25 seconds. I can't go any lower than that." I huffed but Jane Doe was like a rock.

How could she be so unaffected by my presence? Girls fawned over me all the time. One look and their knees went jelly, gooey shit like that. How could she just brush me off like that? This was practically my specialty! Not to mention the fact that I just _imprinted_ on her! Shouldn't she blushing like she was back in the bathroom? It pissed me off that I imprinted on her and she could just walk away and continue living her life. I, on the other hand, was mesmerized by her. Surprised that I could even walk, talk and stare at the back of her head at the same time. Her glorious head. I wanted her to turn around and look at me, I wanted her to turn red again and watch her eyes go wide with embarrassment. It was adorable. I had been so busy, so caught up in just staring at her that I didn't even notice her stopping. And even though it felt like a slight nudge on my end, I knew that it was enough to push her over.

And fall she did, ladies and gentlemen _timber_. My arm lashed out on its own accord, there were only two words that ran through my mind. Imprint and danger. The stupid thing had taken control of me already. But when I pulled Jane Doe closer to me all I thought of was how nicely we fit together. How nice she smelled and how cute she was now, all surprised and shit. Bliss.

"What can I help you with?" It was like an instant switch, she slapped my hand and away and gave me a suspicious once-over.

I couldn't answer. How was I supposed to tell her that I was a werewolf? That because she walked in on me and whatever-her-name-was fooling around in the bathroom, I loved and hated her at the same time? That I would never be able to live without her? That I wished she'd never come to this stupid school? So I just stood there, smiling stupidly just because she was so close to me. I knew that as soon as she was away from me I would be furious that I had imprinted yet still in agony that I wasn't with her. So I enjoyed it while it lasted.

"Paul!" The voice was loud and obnoxious, butting into this precious time that I had with her.

"Embry." Jane Doe relaxed and I felt instantly apprehensive. How did she know who he was?

Jane Doe took off, practically throwing herself at him and I wanted to strangle myself and Embry. Of course I would imprint on someone as _promiscuous_ as I was. Now she was throwing herself at my friends and I had to contain the urge to hit Embry when I saw him give her a bewildered smile. That smile alone caused her breathing to hitch, ughhh stupid werewolf hearing. So I did the only natural thing, I grabbed her by her tiny waist and pulled her close to me. Jane Doe's heart rate sky rocketed and I almost forgot to look threatening. My body language showed it all. _Back off_. They were perceptive enough to realize what this meant. Jacob immediately choked on his food, Jared simply let the milk dribble down his chin and Seth whooped. Quil looked like he was ready to laugh.

"You did _not_!" Embry voiced all their concerns.

Jane Doe's ribcage expanded and I realized she was taking a deep breath, gathering her wits. She cautiously moved my hand away and wrinkled her tiny nose. I should have been offended but that gesture was so kitten-like, so cute.

"Quil go call Sam. Now!" Jacob took control of the situation as soon as he could breathe again and Quil shot up.

I wanted to tell them that wasn't necessary but Jane Doe started talking and I was enthralled by her voice…_again_. I was torn, feeling the need to groan at my stupidity and sigh at her voice. It was so beautiful, so soft and lilting. Her voice had a hint of an accent, something I dutifully noted. I got all this from 4 words she blurted.

"Seth and Jared, right?" They stared at her in awe. As if to say, so _this_ is who Paul imprinted on?

"Yeah. As if you could forget." Seth winked, causing my blood to boil.

I knew I shouldn't care. It wasn't like I _liked_ the whole imprinting business. I was impartial to her as well, I had to remind myself I didn't truly love her. I only loved her because of some stupid voodoo. Seth was just being the childish, flirt of a pup he was. But I couldn't help it. I brought her close to me again and gave Seth a low, warning growl. But Jane Doe shoved me off her and when I reached for her she danced away.

"Stop touching me Paul." Those words alone, coming from her delectably pink lips, left me feeling bittersweet.

She knew my name but she didn't want me. _Why the hell should you care_, my head reprimanded my heart. I shouldn't care. I didn't know her. What did it matter if one, idiotic girl didn't want me to touch her? There was an entire lunchroom full of girls that did.

"Don't flatter yourself. I'm just making sure you don't fall and embarrass yourself…again. I wouldn't willingly touch you with a ten-foot pole." I gave her my trademark smirk, it grew wider when I saw the reaction it elicited.

She was even more beautiful when she was angry. Her brown eyes had a fiery glint, her skin flushed red and a few of the bleached tendrils escaped from her bun. I saw her lips move silently, cursing me and my name. But I was captivated by her beauty alone, it was like looking at a tiny, angry bird or something. So it should come as no surprise that the last thing I expected her to do was stab my toe with her blasted heels. The pain lasted only a second, she would have better luck with steel toed boots. And when she got into my face, it only split me even more. I should be mad at her, livid! But she was standing so close to me, even if she had to break her neck to glare. My brain won out in the end, who the hell did she think she was? Jane Doe should be thanking me. I saved her from humiliation. She should look at me as a knight in shining armor. The anger overtook me and the trembling started. No, no, no. I hadn't lost control for two weeks now. I would be damned if some stupid bimbo would have me phasing in the middle of a crowded lunchroom. On the outside I looked like a tight, ball of wrath but on the inside I was screaming. I was cursing my luck, cursing the anger that brought about the change, cursing myself for not being careful, cursing her and her stupid, beautiful face for ever having me imprint.

Embry dragged her away from me and I got even more angry. He was touching her. Why was he touching her? I frowned at him but he threw me a sheepish look, as if to apologize for this. I knew it was the imprinting shit causing my emotions to be so volatile. Embry was just being careful, this needed to be done. This seemed to calm me down a bit.

"You guys know each other?" Jared raised a brow at us and the scene in the bathroom flooded back along with annoyance.

"She walked in on Corbin and I. The little prude was blushing but she got a good view of my dic-" I was staring her down, willing her to say anything and relishing in her obvious discomfort.

"It wouldn't be the first time, since you enjoy strolling through the woods in the nude." Jane Doe snapped at me and I immediately shut my mouth.

The words sunk in and I was suddenly horrified. What if she had seen us phasing back? What the hell was she even doing walking around in the woods? Didn't she know how dangerous that was? Jane Doe threw a picture at me then. It was me, stark naked in the woods. My face was tranquil and the rays of sun were like stripes crisscrossing my golden skin, which contrasted sharply with the green of the trees.

"When did you take this? It's good." I was surprised when my voice was soft.

"Right before I ran into him." She innocently pointed to Embry who shot me an apologetic look. I wasn't mad, in fact I was ecstatic. He had basically protected her.

"Speaking of which, where the hell's my film?" Jane Doe turned to accuse Embry.

"I've got the others but I've been having trouble err locating the aluminum one." Embry smiled that famous smile of his and I watched her reaction like a hawk. She rolled her eyes and I almost cheered.

"Find it. I'll be over later today, to see if you're slacking." Jane Doe walked away and I couldn't help but watch.

You can tell a lot by the way someone walks. Almost all the girls that threw themselves at me sashayed their hips, expecting me to drool. There were the shufflers, the stompers and the ones that dragged their feet. But Jane Doe's walk was perfect. It was like she was walking on air, on clouds. Her posture was rim rod straight and she looked damn confident. Better than any model on any runway. But as soon as she left, all these thoughts turned sour. I was now out of her bewitching presence and the horrible reality of what had just happened set in.

I had imprinted.

I didn't even know her name.

She hates me.

The last thought was disappointing but my brain, which had been MIA for the past half hour, came back. Why did it matter that she hated me? This was a good thing. I hated imprinting. Why should I be forced to love someone I didn't even know? Why should some stupid tribal thing have such a huge impact in my life? I made a vow then, I'd do everything in my power to fight this off. To reverse this blasted thing. But that was easier said than done. Whenever she was near me, I was on autopilot. I thought of nothing except her and my heart belonged to her. Literally. When Jane Doe stood next to me, she might as well have cut my heart out of my chest and walked away with it. So there was only one solution. I would avoid her for as long as possible. Physically, this would be easy. Mentally? Not so much. Her face was still floating in my mind, crisp and crystal clear. I had it memorized, every dip and curve, every freckle. I came up with a solution for this too. I'd have to keep myself distracted. And there was no bigger distraction than wining, dining and sleeping with some random chick. I had an entire lunchroom of choices.

Before I could take my pick though, I was dragged away by Embry and Jake. They were taking me to Sam. Ugh, I had completely forgotten about him. He should have been here a while ago, Quil was sent out nearly 10 minutes ago! And here I thought I just might dodge that bullet.

"Let me go. I don't need to speak to Sam." I tried to shake their grip but that wasn't happening. Werewolf strength is now, officially, a con.

"What the hell are you talking about? Dude, you just imprinted!" Jacob sounded ticked off.

"Yeah? So what? It's honestly not that big of a deal. Now let me go, I have to go find a ditz to fuck tonight." I sigh exasperated.

"W-wha….you can't just...are you fucking demented?" Embry stopped dead in his tracks.

"You just _imprinted_. Something everyone of us dreams of and you're calling it no big deal? You have no idea how lucky you are." Jacob shook his head slowly but forced us to continue walking.

"I didn't ask for this and I sure as hell didn't dream about it. I hate it and if I don't like something, I fix it." I snapped at them.

"How can you even think about fixing it? How can you even think about someone else?" Embry was flabbergasted.

I clenched my jaw, if they didn't even bother to understand then I wouldn't bother to explain. These idiots had no qualms with letting some bimbo walk in their lives and literally walk away with it. Even now I was longing for Jane Doe's presence, her scent. It was like she had shot me in the stomach with a harpoon and was slowly, but surely, pulling me towards her. Sam took one look at my horrified expression and dragged me into the woods, forcing me to phase. I relayed the events to him and he seemed pleasantly surprised.

_So what took you so long Sammy? _

Sam let a thought slip then and I saw him literally on the floor laughing at Quil.

_**Sorry, it was hard to believe. **_

_Better believe it baby. _

_**The Cullens are back in town and we've had our pack growing like crazy and now you're emotions are jacked up again. You imprinted on Debra Moore's niece, of all people, at the **_**worst time possible. **

_That can't be right….I thought she said her nephew was coming here._

_**You're a moron. Her name is Diana. **_

I couldn't help but smile at that, or smile as best as a several hundred pound wolf beast could smile. The name fit her.

_So what? _I feigned nonchalance. This imprinting shit was not going to take over my life.

_**I'm sorry to tell you this Paul, but you don't have a choice anymore. Imprinting is for life. You should be happy to have a significant other, I mean sleeping around couldn't have been healthy for you. **_

_There are a lot of benefits to sex! It's burns calories, releases endorphins– _

_**Yeah, yeah. I've heard it all before. But now you've got her. I'm not going to force you into it or ban you from bringing girls around the house. Not because I believe your stupid plan about reversing an imprint is going to work. But because I **_**know **_**what happens when you imprint. Try as you might but resistance is futile. **_

_You're wrong. I hate her. _

_**Why? **_

_She ruined my life Sam. _

_**She hasn't done anything to you. Diana couldn't have avoided this anymore than you can, she was just as clueless. Besides….I think it's the other way around. You scarred her in that bathroom. **_Sam shuddered then and I yipped in annoyance.

_She hates me. It doesn't matter though. Girls are stupid. _I didn't care if I sounded immature.

_**Go introduce yourself to the girl. That's the least you could do for showing her your ding-dong, you ding-dong.**_

_THAT WASN'T MY FAULT, SHE KNOCKED ON THE DOOR. _I growled in protest.

_**Yeah, yeah. I've heard it all before. Go phase back and be nice. **_

_Alright. And Sam? Thanks. _

_**Shoo already. **_He grunted.

Machismo gets in the way of sincere moments sometimes. I phased back, quickly threw my clothes on and tried to get the leaves and dirt out of my hair. This wouldn't be an amazing first impression but I reminded myself that it didn't matter. I wouldn't get emotionally involved with this girl on a level beyond the stupid imprint. I would protect her only because it couldn't be helped. But I would not, repeat, _not_ befriend her. At this stage in my life a girl was only good for one thing. You can guess what that is.

I sniffed her out easily (water lilies and the sharp sting of chemicals) and stopped, hiding behind some shrubbery. Diana was sitting on the front steps of the school with various items recklessly thrown around her. There were buds in her ears and I could hear her humming along to a song I didn't recognize. The wisps of blonde fell down in her face and she was hunched over, her pale arm moving rapidly over a notebook. Every few seconds she would lick her thumb and rub the notebook, probably for shading or some shit. I stiffened when I thought she looked over in my direction. She couldn't see me stalking….uhh admiring her from afar. Diana suddenly gasped and ripped the paper from her notebook before mumbling under breath. She was an odd one alright, neatly folding the damn thing into a fortune teller. After a few minutes of watching her giggle as she wrote all over the fortune teller I made my way over to her.

"Hello." I said, suppressing the urge to smile when she blanched.

"We haven't properly met but my name is Paul Lahote." I took the initiative when I realized she would be sitting there shocked and in thought for the next….forever.

"I know." Came her answer. The ice queen was back, glaring at my hand until it fell back to my side. I cleared my throat, this was uncomfortable.

"Do you…hate me?" I asked rapidly.

Diana didn't even bother to open her mouth, she just shook her head.

"So you dislike me?" I tried and she made a noise that suspiciously sounded like 'I don't know'. Grind your teeth Paul, don't get mad. Diana doesn't understand what an imprint is or a spirit warrior.

"I just want to know if anyone got to you. They talk. A lot. And half the time they don't know what the hell they're saying." I grumbled, hoping that some gossiping harpy hadn't fed her lies.

But Diana didn't react, just rolled her eyes and stayed silent. Obviously she was still pissed off and I was obviously too stubborn to let it go.

"Then tell me what I did wrong. Tell me what I did to make you hate me." I badgered her.

"You kept fucking that girl while I was in the bathroom." Diana spoke to me like I was three years old and I could barely hear the accent behind the venom in her sentence.

"Not that again! God, you're such a prude. It's high school. What the hell were you thinking knocking on the door anyway?" What had started as a rant turned into a sincere question but Diana just shook her head. Time for another angle.

"You would be covered, head to toe, in food right now if it weren't for me. I saved your life." I laughed. So maybe I was exaggerating but it was true.

"More like nosy." Diana said in a deadpan voice.

"You, of all people, are calling me nosy?" I distinctly remember her interrupting a glorious session between me and whats-her-face. But she shrugged.

"What does that even mean! God you're infuriating. Are you so socially awkward that conversations are impossible? Grunting, shrugging and nodding at me isn't talking." I hadn't meant to sound so harsh but it came out of my mouth none the less and Diana almost cracked but she set her jaw.

"What were you drawing?" I remembered the picture.

"You were watching me?" She sounded so nervous and I took advantage of her slow, human reflexes to snatch up the fortune teller.

"What's this?" I teased.

"Give it back Paul!" In a desperate attempt to recover her precious paper she threw herself across my lap and my throat constricted. She was so close to me, I briefly entertained the idea of kissing her. Stupid imprint, I shoved the thought to the back of my head.

"She speaks. O, speak again, bright angel! For thou art as glorious to this night, being o'er my head,  
>as is a winged messenger of heaven." I quoted Shakespeare at her and wanted to smile when I saw the recognition flash across her beautiful face. So she wasn't an idiot.<p>

I unfolded the fortune teller then and she gave up, planting her cute little tush back where it was, a blush coloring her freckles.

"You drew me?" I wanted to laugh. So the imprint really did work both ways. And it wasn't just some stupid stick figure, this drawing was like a photograph. Her talented hands missed nothing, no freckle, hair or mischievous spark. I was truly touched by it.

"Keep it." Diana barked at me before grabbing all her things.

"No wait. Don't leave, I think it's cute. I haven't had a girl draw me yet." I called but she whirled around, all bite and no bark.

"God you're so fucking conceited. Yeah you're hot, is that what you wanted to hear? I find you attractive. Easy on the eyes. Fun to look at. In fact, you're gorgeous. Abnormally so. I don't really care for it though, because I can see through it. Your good looks are the thin veneer over your disgusting personality. Who the hell has sex in a high school bathroom? You could at least show poor girl a little respect and fuck her in your car or something. You're like….you're a...you're a manwhore." A few things registered then. She thought I was hot. Actually she thought I was gorgeous. Diana had actually just cussed. Her accent was more pronounced when she was yelling.

"So you agree. You think I'm hot?" I repeated, still amused by the fact.

Diana made a sound that can only be described as a squawk, burst into laughter and walked away. Oh yeah. She was an odd one alright.

A/N:

Okay believe me when I tell you writing this was harder than I thought it was going to be. I tried to capture Paul's personality and his reasoning. Basically he wants to hate imprinting and Diana because he wants to continue his uhh promiscuous ways and live his life. But he can't help but love her because _durr_ he's imprinted. Tsk tsk tsk!

Next update will be done by the weekend hopefully. I'm thinking of taking a hiatus on my other story because I'm a finicky psycho but I just love Jacob so much. :c Ughh. Keep expecting updates from this one though. And remember review, review, review! I respond to them all.

xoxo

Lace


	4. Chapter 4

**Uhh late update is better than no update. THAT'S MY EXCUSE FOLKS! Hahaha. Sorry last chapter might have been boring (but necessary I swear) for you guys! Enjoy and review br0s. c: **

Chapter Four: But Why's The Rum Gone?

After my dramatic exit I went for the only safe place in the school, the dark room. I hoped Cameron was still there so I could whine about that idiot Paul but there was a girl instead. I executed a tiny cough and she looked up before turning on the enlarger lamp. She had short, black hair cut just below her chin. Her face was all cheekbones and she had almond shaped, honey brown eyes framed by thick lashes. Her lips were pink, thin and wide against white teeth.

"Can I help you?" She asked, looking a little bewildered. I remembered then that I was probably the only white kid in this entire school and she had heard from the rest of her schoolmates about me already.

"I'm Diana, Mrs. Moore's niece. I'm just visiting for the darkroom." I held out my hand.

"You're the one that everyone's talking about. I'm Kim." She shook it and turned the enlarger lamp back on.

"Right." I said awkwardly but her words echoed in my head. Everyone was talking about _me_? A sarcastic snort should go right about here.

"So how'd you get them to talk to you?" Kim inquired casually.

"What do you mean?"

"Embry Call, Paul Lahote, Seth Clearwater, Jacob Black and Jared Cameron." She spurted.

"Oh. Them. Long story." I sighed.

"I've got time." She shrugged.

So we left the dark room and sat next a computer. Kim had a few pictures to digitally edit and I just liked the wheels on the chair. I let a comfortable silence settle over us as she clicked and typed away on the computer and I zoomed across the room in the squeaky chair. How was I supposed to explain to her how I came to know them all? I knew I couldn't give away too much, they were obviously the popular kids at the school and whatever I said now would be repeated for months to come. I decided to just be blunt about it and let her take it how she wanted. It wasn't as complicated or weird as I thought.

"Spill?" Kim's voice was timid but I obliged.

"I saw Paul naked in the woods and then ran into Embry a few seconds later, I dropped some of my favorite film but forgot about it. He took me to some house and that's where I saw Seth and Jared. Embry drove me home, said hi to my aunt and I remembered my film so I told him to look for it for me. He said yes. I came here today with my aunt to use the dark room and develop some pictures because there are no other darkrooms anywhere near the area. I saw Paul, again, fucking some red-head in the bathroom. I ran away because it was awkward but he followed me into the lunchroom apologizing, I dropped all my crap and then I went up to Embry to ask about my film. He introduced me to Jacob then said he hadn't found my film yet. I told him to give it to my aunt when he did." So maybe the story is kind of complicated and weird. And maybe I did lie about the last part, but she didn't need to know I was going to that little red house in the woods with a sawed off shotgun incase Embry hadn't found my film.

"Oh." Was all Kim said at first but then realization dawned on her and she demanded a more thorough explanation.

"What were you doing in the woods?"

"I was just hiking and taking pictures."

"You saw Paul naked _twice_?"

"Trust me, I didn't want to. He's an ass." Disgusted shivers.

"Is he….well you know….as well endowed as they say he is?"

"Please stop, you'll make me projectile vomit all over you." More disgusted shivers here.

"How is Embry?"

"Nice enough." Shrug.

"What about Jacob?"

"I'm not exactly an expert." Eyeroll.

"Seth?"

"He's great." Smile.

"Jared?"

"Decent." Shrug.

"He's more than decent! You just haven't talked to him much. I bet Jared's really nice and kind and sweet and funny." Kim actually sighed then.

"You like him don't you?" I gushed.

"You aren't going to tell anyone are you?" Kim asked nervously but I gave her my word.

"You know something. You're pretty weird. I mean 99.99% of the female population is in love with Paul. He's the only one out of all of them that actually talks to girls. But you hate him the most." She eyed me warily, as if I had some kind of disease.

"Paul is a narcissistic lecher." I frowned.

"That maybe, but he's a _social_ narcissistic lecher. I can't believe they talked to you, I can't believe you've seen him naked, I can't believe they know your name! I would love to have any one of them say my name." Kim sighed sadly.

"Wait, none of them know your name?" I asked surprised.

"Nope."

"What about Jared? Your crush? You've talked to him before right? He's got to know your name." I insisted and there was a long silence.

"Not even once?" I sounded a bit indignant considering I wasn't exactly a social butterfly.

"I've had at least one class with Jared for as long as I can remember. I've liked him since the first day of kindergarten." Kim finally broke the silence.

"You haven't talked to him? Ever?" I tilted my head to the side in amazement.

"Yes I have, he asked if he could borrow a pencil in English class in 8th grade. I said yes." Kim said defensively.

"That hardly counts." I laughed.

The silence fell over us again and I wanted to say something, anything to encourage her, to tell her how beautiful she was and how she didn't need a guy to complete her life. But I don't really have a way with words.

"D-Do you think you could help me? I mean there must be _something _different about you since they're willing to talk to you." Kim's voice was beyond soft and I had to strain myself to hear her over the ring of the final bell.

"I'm not sure if I'm the right person for this…actually scratch that. I'm sure I'm the wrong person for this. I'm awkward and I'm always spacing out, thinking about art or something lame. I don't know why they talked to me. It was all just a horrid twist of fate. But Kim, you're gorgeous and so funny. As corny as it sounds, you just have to believe in yourself. _Carpe diem_. March right up to Jared and introduce yourself. If it was meant to be, it was meant to be. You cannot sit in the back of the classroom waiting for him to notice you. You have to take the initiative." I declared.

"Yeah. You're right. I'm sick of living in the shadows. I have to go, I can't miss the bus. I've got history first period tomorrow, Jared's in that class too and guess what? I'm going to say hi to him." Kim was flushed with gusto and she all but skipped out of the media arts room.

As excited as Kim was, I didn't know if she would go through with it. After just one conversation with her I could tell she was painfully shy around Jared. It would have been pretty cool to see her blush and stammer in front of him but I couldn't. Tomorrow would be my first day at Forks High. I walked through the hordes of kids to the parking lot of La Push High School, grateful for the hooded parka and the chatter that muffled the clicks of my heels. I lifted the hood cautiously and sure enough, girls started conveniently 'bumping' into me. I gritted my teeth, all of this was because of Paul and the rest of those idiots. If only the air heads that jostled me knew that I didn't want their attention. A particularly large girl slammed into me and I was suddenly sprawled across the parking lot. I got on my hands and knees, not caring about the steady drizzle or muddy ground or the spray of water from a buffoon who jumped on a puddle next to me. My precious cameras, upon closer inspection, weren't broken or scratched. Just really dirty. I shivered, half from feeling cold and half from feeling watched. My eyes landed on Paul, who was across the parking lot with his friends. They were all wearing t-shirts and soaked through but they didn't look cold. In fact they were all yelling at Paul, who stood with his arms crossed and his mouth set into a thin line. The jerk was looking right at me! He had seen the entire thing and done nada, zilch, zero. Absurd considering the girls who did this were no doubt apart of his harem. Well two can play at that game. So I ignored his cold stares and took off my parka, wrapping up my cameras. I was going to put the whole thing in my bag when a strong pair of arms lifted me up.

"What the hell are you doing crawling around in the mud?" Cameron asked, picking my stuff off the ground and handing it to me.

I looked over where the crowd of girls were standing, laughing at my disheveled appearance. I peered down at myself and saw the knees of my pants were ripped, my arms, legs and neck were streaked with mud and my hair was hanging limply in my face.

"Well, you see, your parking lot is made of packed dirt. When water hits dirt it turns into mud. Mud doesn't have very good traction and I'm wearing heels?" I finished lamely.

"You're not a very good liar. Come on, I'll walk you to your aunt's car." He shook his head before shrugging out of his jacket and offering his arm.

I took both and made a show of teetering and tottering before we stopped in front of the Honda hatchback.

"You can stop wobbling, I know you can walk in heels." Cameron smiled.

"Oh really? What else do you know?" I laughed lightly.

"I know it was those girls that pushed you to the ground and I know they did it because Jacob and those other guys were talking to you." He said quietly.

"Here comes my aunt." I welcomed the distraction with open arms.

Aunt Debra was running across the parking lot, her hair was drenched and she was grumbling about the weather when she came up to us.

"Cameron, where's your jacket? You shouldn't be gallivanting about the place with just a t-shirt. Now get to your car." She scolded before entering the Honda.

"Here's your parka." I made a move to take it off but he refused.

"Oh, okay. Well I'll wash it tonight and have my aunt give it to you tomorrow." I promised.

"Hey, I was wondering…if you wanted to hang out later. We could go see Requiem or something." Cameron bit his lip nervously.

"The zombie movie, right? I saw the trailer for that the other day and it looked pretty cool," His smile widened at my enthusiasm, "But crap! I just remembered. I have to head over to Embry Call's house later today to pick something up."

"Oh. It's alright." Cameron forced a smile but the disappointment was evident in his eyes.

"How about a rain check? We can see it this weekend up in Port Angeles. I need to head up there to see if there are any stores with cameras and junk." I offered.

"Yeah, yeah that sounds good." His smile came back.

"Okay, see you then." I got in the car and Aunt Debra mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'finally'.

I looked up in the rearview mirror and saw that Cameron was still in the parking lot, hands jammed in his pockets with a big smile on his face. Paul and his friends, however, were nowhere to be found. By the time we got home, the rain had let up and I sprinted into the house to see the damage. I unraveled the rumpled green parka on the dining room table and almost fainted when I saw that the cameras looked fine. My guardian angel must have been there in the parking lot because they were in perfect working condition too.

"Everything alright?" Aunt Debra eyed me cautiously from the kitchen.

"Yes." I beamed.

"What's this I hear about a date on Friday?" She teased.

"It's not a date. We're going as friends." I breezed past her and ransacked the pantry for a snack.

"Oh. Is it because you like Embry?" She asked innocently and I froze, holding the cheezits in front of me.

"No. I do not like Embry. I'm just going to see him because he has some of my film." I replied firmly.

I scuttled out of the kitchen before Aunt Debra could ask me any more ridiculous questions. The telephone was in the living room and I dialed Embry's number quickly.

"_Hello, this is the Call residence."_ It was a woman's voice.

"Ahh, hi. I'm looking for Embry?"

"_You just missed him. He left for Sam and Emily's, said something about a bonfire."_

"Oh. Well can you tell him I called when he gets back?"

"_And who might you be?" _I frowned when I realized I hadn't even told her my name.

"Diana Byrne." Ode to the awkward.

"_Alright. You have a nice day now." _

"Goodbye." I hung up feeling a little dejected.

That little weasel had left without warning. He knew I wanted to check up on him today. I walked back into the kitchen to find Aunt Debra getting started on dinner and she took note of my wrinkled brow.

"What's the problem?"

"Stupid Embry left to go to some bonfire at Sam and Emily's house, _without_ giving me my film."

"Oh, do you need a ride there?" Aunt Debra asked and I hid my surprise, I wasn't going to ask cause I didn't think she knew where that was. Hell I had been there and I didn't know where it was! I guess the crap about everyone knowing each other in a small town was true.

"Yeah. I just have to take a quick shower." I called over my shoulder, already halfway up the stairs.

I scrubbed away the embarrassment and gravel from the parking lot today, standing under the shower until the water ran clear. Then I towel dried my hair as best as I could before parting it sharply down the middle and putting it in ponytail at the nape of my neck. I decided on a white dolman shirt with thin, navy blue stripes and quarter sleeves, fitted blue jeans and black platform ankle booties. A bright orange clutch, black enamel ring and gold and orange bangles completed the outfit. I laid the mascara on thick but skipped all other forms of makeup, pinching my cheeks and adding a little color to my pallor complexion.

"You look so darling and those shoes are fantastic." Aunt Debra said politely.

"Thank you. Hopefully I don't muck them up." I frowned, how dirty could a bonfire get?

We drove there in silence and when she pulled up into a dirt road the wrinkles on my brow only increased. This was the same house I'd seen, the small red one. I thought Embry lived there. Did that mean the girl who greeted me was Emily? She was so young looking, I thought she might have been his older sister.

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to call sweetie." Aunt Debra waved goodbye and I nodded.

There were a lot more cars parked in the front of the house today and even though I could hear the shouts of Jared and Seth out in the backyard, I rang the doorbell anyway. After a minute or two the door flew open and I saw a giant shirtless guy. He stared me down suspiciously and I almost shat myself. Did he have to walk around half naked?

"Who're you?" He obviously didn't mince words and I decided that was a good trait.

"Oh, you must be Paul's date." He mused.

"Do I look like a common whore? I'm actually looking for Embry; I was told he'd be here for a bonfire." I scoffed.

"Thank god, I was going to say you're too good for Paul." His laughter was genuine and loud as he led me into the house.

I saw the girl with the scars, Emily, standing in the kitchen with a huge punch bowl.

"Here let me help you with that." Giant Shirtless Dude immediately took it from her and she thanked him with kiss on the cheek. This confirmed my suspicion. Giant Shirtless Dude was Sam.

"Hey, I remember you! Diana Byrne, Debra's niece right?" Emily smiled warmly and at the mention of my name Sam almost dropped the punch bowl.

"Sam, be careful." Emily furrowed her brow and tried to decipher the look on his face. He looked almost as pale as me.

"What?" She whispered and he motioned for her to come closer before murmuring something in her ear. It only took a second for realization to dawn on the good half of her face.

She suddenly sprinted to the back door and I coughed when I heard what she shouted.

"Paul, your date is here!"

Did I not specify to Sam that I wasn't dating (sleeping with) that pig? Could they not tell that I hated, no, _despised_ him?

"What did you tell her?" I hissed at Sam's retreating figure, who shot me an apologetic glance.

But Paul swaggered in anyway and when he saw who it was in the kitchen, he did a double-take.

"What the hell are you doing here stalker?" He boomed.

"Don't flatter yourself, if I had known you were here I wouldn't have come." I sneered.

"Yeah? Well why _are_ you here? Who the hell invited you?" Paul retorted.

"She's your date of course." Emily put in good naturedly.

"No I'm not!"

"No she's not!"

In unison ladies and gentlemen. Well at least that's one thing we could agree on.

"What? What're you talking about? Isn't she your imprint?" Emily looked thoroughly confused and Paul shushed her. There was that word again…imprint.

"Look. I was expecting a redhead, voluptuous babe. Not this pale twig. Offense meant to be taken." He clarified.

"None taken. I was looking for Embry." I snapped immediately, paying attention to the insulted expression on Paul's face. Like he was offended that I had come for Embry, a decent human being, instead of him.

"Oh. Embry's out back." I thanked Emily and brushed past Paul.

I tried to calm my boiling blood and remember to be semi-friendly to the boys. Or at least semi-civilized.

"Di?" Seth's overexcited voice was about a pitch higher than the others so he broke the conversation easily. Now the spotlight was all mine. Cool frijoles.

"Hi…again." I gave them a tiny wave and the curious glances turned into snigger.

I narrowed my eyes and tried to walk over to the picnic table, which was close to collapsing from all the food on it. I say tried because I immediately floundered to the floor. So much for not mucking up my shoes. The sniggers grew to outright laughter. And it wasn't the friendly kind of laughter, they weren't laughing 'with' me they were laughing at me. I growled and swallowed the cuss words that almost left my lips. Kind and courteous Diana. Be kind and courteous. Instead I unzipped the heels and tossed them aside, along with the muddy orange clutch. I slipped off the bangles and rolled up the hems of the jeans. The laughter stopped and they went back to amused looks. I all but stomped up to the table and piled as much as I could carry on a plate.

"Wow. You're pretty short without your heels." Jared coughed.

"I'm 5'4". That's more than the national average height of females." I defended myself before returning to the burger(s) in front of me.

"Yeah, by an inch." It was Paul that spoke this time.

I whipped my head up, mid-bite and almost spat chunks. When the hell did he get here? Why was he talking to me? And more importantly…how did he know what the national average height of females in the U.S. was?

"Where's my film?" I directed my attention to Embry.

"I haven't really, precisely, exactly…looked for it yet." His head was hung in shame and I quietly hissed.

"I'll get over it. But only if you guys let me stay long enough to finish this….heavenly….food…mmm." I spoke between bites and swallows.

"You can stay as long as you want." Jacob insisted, ignoring the glares he was getting from a certain oaf, and I had to keep from cheering.

"So what's this bonfire for anyway?" I asked.

"Oh you know….cause we can." Quil shrugged and I accepted the answer.

We spent the next hour around the fire roasting marshmallows and talking. We played a few rounds of Chubby Bunny and 'I have never, ever' with a way-too sugary soft drink, only cause Emily refused to let us bust open the liquor cabinet. It wasn't too bad though cause instead of getting piss-faced we were jittery and shaky. But the drink was ridiculously sweet, it tasted like melted sugar and molasses and it left a disgusting aftertaste. Yech. Paul wasn't joining in on the good fun, he was off to the side skulking and whispering in hushed tones with Sam.

"Wait wait, how come parents sing that lullaby to their kids?" Jared managed to wheeze out before collapsing with laughter.

"Dude, what are you talking about?" Seth giggled….that's right. He giggled. Obviously the sugar was getting to us.

"Rock a bye baby, in the tree tops. When the wind blows your cradle will rock. When the wind stops your cradle will fall and down will come baby cradle and all." Jared's falsetto was like nails on a chalkboard and we all half winced half guffawed.

"It's really creepy. Sounds like something a blood-sucker would say." Embry's chuckle trailed off and he had a look of horror on his face that everyone around the fire mimicked. I doubled over in laughter at their expressions and they all launched into halting and awkward laughs.

Seth got the brilliant idea of telling scary stories and amidst a rather spooky one, Paul showed up out of nowhere and slumped down next to me. I bit my cheek to stop from screaming bloody murder.

"Are you okay?" He whispered.

"Don't do that." I hissed back.

I listened to the story for a few more seconds before peering over at Paul out of the corner of my eye. He looked amazing in the light of the campfire and I flushed when he caught me looking at him. Great, this would probably inflate that fathead of his even more. Seth was wrapping up the story when we heard the distinct sound of a doorbell ringing. Emily shot up to answer it and I rubbed the fleshbumps from my arm. It was getting late and not to mention chilly.

"You guys are freaks. How're you not freezing?" I mumbled.

"Is the little birdie cold?" They all jeered and I drew my knees up to my chest with a hiss.

"Shut up." Paul said darkly before draping his sweater over me. It was ridiculously warm, ridiculously large and smelled great.

"Chivalry is dead." I snarled at him but didn't shrug it off.

"Because women killed it." Paul raised a brow, the corners of his mouth tugging slightly upwards.

My stomach did a spontaneous back-handspring and I buried my face in his shirt, feeling self conscious. He had to stop surprising me with his brains, I mean couldn't he just continue playing the stupid, sex-crazed oaf? Whenever he made these snide comments I had to stop myself from smiling. His humor was as dry as toast, not unlike mine own. I couldn't help myself!

"Paul your lady friend is here." Emily announced wryly and Quil snickered.

He whispered something in Seth's ear, who whispered it in Jacob's ear, who whispered it in Embry's ear, who whispered it in Paul's ear. When Paul leaned over to pass it on to me, my breath caught and I swear the tease was breathing in my ear for a minute before he even started talking. I barely registered what he said, paying attention to more important things like the fact that his teeth grazed the skin on my earlobe and his quiet laughter brought a spark that shot down to my bare and muddy toes.

"Something Nordish this weight hums?" I repeated after a beat and we all laughed.

"We suck at telephone." Seth quipped as realization dawned on me. **(A/N: Points for those that can guess what was said!)**

"What's so funny?" I recognized the girl, it was the same one he had been in the bathroom with. The redhead.

Her eyes drank in everyone's face, lingering on them all, even little Seth. A little disturbing much? But when her green eyes fell on mine they hardened.

"What's _that _doing here again?" She all but spat at me.

"_That _doesn't concern you Corwin." Paul shot back.

"I have a name." I sighed quietly.

"Cor_bin_. Are we leaving or what?" She snapped.

Paul's eyes were glued to my face, watching closely. What did he want me to say? How did he expect me to react? It wasn't like I didn't know his smutty ways. The proof was right in front of me, in front of all of us actually. Corbin was spilling out of her dress, which was six sizes too small no doubt. I paled when I recognized the dress. An Emilio Pucci lace cocktail dress, the very same one I had longingly gazed at on my computer screen not weeks ago. It had been well over one thousand dollars. Corbin was nearly as pale as I was and her creamy complexion showed through the lace on the left side of the dress. The black bandeau bra she had under it was visible and it made it a little more tasteful considering the fact that her boobs were straining against the confines of the dress. Nauseating. The gold clasp on her black, quilted Chanel clutch winked under the light of the bonfire, taunting me. I only had a cheap imitation. But hers was the real thing, worth at least two thou. And when she tapped her toes in annoyance I saw the famous red sole of Louboutin. This particular pair was around $800. Her fiery locks were curled and cascaded down her back and bust.

"I have to say, I like your taste. Even if it does scream high class hooker." I said offhandedly, ignoring the open hatred on her face.

"What part of her outfit is high class?" Quil burst into laughter but he was silenced by one look from Corbin.

"I wouldn't expect _you_ to know but her shoes are Christian Louboutin, her bag is a custom Chanel clutch. And her dress is Emilio Pucci, albeit three sizes too small. I wanted the same one but it was too expensive, I hadn't sold enough paintings that month." I fought the urge to rip it off her and run away with it.

I couldn't tell what everyone's reaction to the little speech was but I would like to think Corbin seemed a little impressed. Paul looked surprised and disappointed. I found it odd that he should look so disheartened but maybe he took me for one of those girls that was above fashion trends. Then again, I took him for Tarazan when I first saw him.

"You're a….pretty good walker? You hardly wobbled on your way over her and I mean those are stilettos in moist dirt. You should be sinking right in." I chirped after a particularly long awkward silence.

"Let's go." Paul interrupted my compliment and I watched him walk into the house, not realizing that Cobrin was still rooted to her spot.

"Thank you." She said quietly to me before following after Paul.

The crowd around the bonfire was deathly silent but I was too busy thinking to notice. What the hell was Paul's deal? Did he want me to play nice with his date? I could barely stand to play nice with him and if that much wasn't obvious, he was dumber than I thought. I didn't like him. He was vain and he manipulated innocent, young women with his uncommonly handsome looks. There was a lot of good he could be doing with said looks but instead he was pissing it away on getting in a good fuck now and then. Beyond that he was a mystery, hiding behind his 'bad-boy image' and sardonic humor. I could _never_ like someone like him.

"Take me home." I said hoarsely.

"Are you feeling okay?" The worry was clear in Embry's voice.

"I want to go home." I replied and was glad to see he accepted the answer.

I stood up, away from the warmth of a crackling fire and clutched the sweater tight against the chill of La Push. I rolled my pants down, put on my heels and vaguely remember Emily telling me to drop by again soon. The car ride was quiet, mostly because of me shutting down every conversation. I had a weird feeling in the pit of my gut and I was constantly replaying the whole visit. Something had happened that I didn't like, something that made me sick. I wanted to strangle and cry and demolish something, preferably with a bat. But more than anything I wanted to draw Paul's face again. I had given away my beautiful picture of him in the woods, I had given away my lifelike drawing of him. I didn't know why I'd done it, I was usually frugal with my pieces and never let anyone see them except those that had to. Unless you were interested in buying my art or entering it some kind of contest I didn't let you go anywhere near it. So how had he managed to walk away with, not one, but two fantastic works?

"Hey if it's about the film, I'm sorry and I'll look for it tonight." Embry made one last attempt but I waved him off.

I took the spare key from beneath a potted plant and let myself in. The house was dark and the only noise that could be heard over Aunt Debra's incredibly loud snores was the angry hum of the refrigerator. Thankfully, Aunt Debra was a heavy sleeper so I could move about the house in peace. I went upstairs and changed into Power Rangers Pajamas before scrubbing my face and taking out the dreadful ponytail. I had a pounding headache so it was time for Diana Byrne's Guaranteed, Fool Proof Cures To Remedy The Common Headache.

_Listen to classical music, specifically music from the Baroque period. Recommended are the _Bradenburg Concertos_, _Toccata and Fugue in D minor_ and _The Four Seasons_ by Johann Sebastian Bach and Antonio Vivaldi respectively. _

_Paint, paint, paint, paint. Watercolors, acrylic even finger painting works. _

_Ramen always works. For everything. Period. _

_Brush your hair, it stimulates blood flow to your follicles and it feels great. You can use a Mason Pearson brush….or a $2 drugstore brush. Either or. Whichever floats thine ferry._

_A pot of coffee, or two, or three. As many as it takes. Keep drinking until that headache is gone!_

_If all of said Cures do not work, then you're out of luck I'm afraid. You can either pop in a few movies with an extra large, every-topping-except-anchovies pizza or try lobotomy. _

So that's how I found myself bouncing up on down from a coffee high, blasting classical music with a brush in one hand, a paint brush in another and an empty bowl of Ramen in front of me. All was lost, Diana had valiantly fought this headache and almost screamed when she started referring to herself in third person….or myself. Yech. Outlook was not good. I tossed the MP3 player, shoved away the coffee pot, canvas and bowl of Ramen. Hopefully there was at least one greasy pizza joint in this town that was open this late. I found a dusty telephone book on top of the obnoxiously loud refrigerator, tried a few pizza joints before I found one that was open and placed the order. I ordered three random movies from Netflix and then busied myself with my painting. It was Paul, again, sitting on a log next to a campfire. His face was smiling the same smile he shot me after giving me his sweater, which was currently on the floor in the living room. The canvas wasn't a particularly large one, in fact it was the size of a notebook but I had paid great attention to detail, getting it just right.

The doorbell rang and I startled before remembering the pizza. I shot up, eager to dig in and flung the door open. It was _him. _Emphasis on the hatred behind said him. The last person I wanted to see in the world was standing in front of me. Why today? Hadn't I seen enough of him? Why now, when I had this horrid headache?

"Where's the pizza?" I asked slowly.

"Well hello to you too." Paul Lahote (gag) waggled his eyebrows and took in my t-shirt and boxers, which suddenly felt too small, too short and way too tight. But he produced the box containing my precious pizza and I frowned.

"Did you scare off the pizza guy?" I asked.

"Naww, I bribed him." He shrugged in a totally unmodest manner. Egotistical fuck face.

I snatched the box from him and tucked it under my arm, still eyeing him suspiciously.

"What the hell are you doing here stalker?" I spat, taking the moment to throw his words back at him.

"I was just in the neighborhood." He said, ignoring my angry tone.

"Come back from dropping off that harpy?" I laughed humorlessly.

"No. I ended the date with whats-her-name a while ago. I wasn't feeling up to it." Paul shrugged, his hands lodged in his pockets.

"Well why the hell _are_ you here?" I sighed.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" Score is, Paul 1 and Di 0.

"Aren't you worried about my aunt sleeping?" Paul 1 Di 1

"Wouldn't she have woken up a while ago?" Paul 2 Di 1.

"When are you going to stop answering my questions with questions?" Paul 2 Di 2.

"When are_ you_ going to invite me in?" Paul 3 Di 2.

Erghh! He was impossible. I should have quit while I was ahead.

"Shoes off, I'll be in the living room." I let the door close behind me and made my way back to the living room.

I panicked when I realized my painting of him was out in the open. There was no way he was finding another picture of him. He'd start getting suspicious and accusing me of building a Lahote Shrine. So the first thing I did was grab the painting off the couch, along with the coffee pot and bowl. I ran to the kitchen and dumped everything on a counter before opening the loud fridge and grabbing a two-liter bottle of Coca-Cola. I opened the dishwasher and found two clean cups, now came the balancing act of carrying all this into the living room. Paul was making himself comfortable on the couch and helping himself to a slice of _my _pizza, uhh I mean headache medicine.

"That's my cure you're eating." I said through clenched teeth before shoving a cup of mostly cola fizz in his hands.

"What a charming hostess." Came his reply and I crammed a slice into my mouth to keep from smiling.

"I actually came by because I had a package to drop off." Paul frowned into the cup.

"What kind of package?" It actually came out as "what jkdsaiorwenfds" because of the pizza in my mouth but he seemed to understand.

"You'll find out depending on how the evening goes." He wiggled his brows and I swallowed the food in my mouth as quickly as possible.

"Get out. I'm not having sex with you." I screamed, well aware of how red my face was.

"Relax it's a joke. Sheesh, you're not really welcoming are you?" Paul laughed but I didn't reply.

Instead I grabbed the remote and wrinkled my nose. The only decent movie I had actually ordered was Pirates Of The Carribean: Curse Of The Black Pearl.

"You're not even going to show me around?" He pouted and I had to stop myself from shouting.

"The only place you need to know is the front door." I snapped but he wouldn't stop sulking.

Pretty soon Paul was sniffing and whimpering like a puppy. I told him to shut up but he jumped up from the couch and onto the recliner I was curled up on. He started pawing at me and demanding I look at him.

"I'm not going to show you around the damn house." I hissed.

"That's okay…I mean I could always lick you." That got me standing up immediately and to my viewing pleasure, Paul fell off my lap and onto the floor.

That asshole, making me get up and walk around when I was clearly nursing a headache. It's not like I was going to_ let_ him lick me, especially not after his date with Corbin. They'd probably been going at it like a couple of rabbits, shoving their tongues down each other's throats. There was no way his tongue was going anywhere near me. I was probably going to have to disinfect the cup he drank from.

"Okay this is the living room, there's the bathroom, this is the dining room, here's the kitchen." I lazily pointed out the rooms downstairs before telling him to follow me upstairs.

"We've got Aunt Debra's room up here." I opened her door and the snoring intensified.

"I was wondering what that noise was." Paul whispered amused.

"Yeah well, she sleeps like the dead. So you don't have to whisper." I laughed.

"This is the other bathroom, here's the linen closet, we've got an office over there and this…this is my room I guess." I stopped at the door, reluctant to open it.

Paul was quiet, for once, and I decided to open the door anyway. He trailed in after me and I hung back, closing the door softly and turning on the lights. He looked so out of place in the room, too large and colorful against the white walls. He was smiling as he looked around and I felt the corners of my lips tug up as well. There really wasn't much to look at. There was a full sized bed with the pale yellow bedding, a big bay window with similar yellow window treatments. A white desk was shoved in a corner with a desk and lamp, it had a few of my cameras and sketch pads on top of it. The closet was half open and clothes were strewn in the surrounding area. Paul took everything in before grabbing the sketch pads on my desk and sitting on the bed. He flipped through them and smiled in childlike wonder.

"You're really good. I mean wow. They're like photographs. I can't even…." He trailed off.

I sat down next to him, feeling giddy from his compliments and looked at him looking at my drawings. I explained a few of them when I felt the need to.

"This was my old neighbor's kid. His name is Lucas Reagan, no relation to the President. He's seven years old. Isn't he adorable? And this one was my old best friend, her name is Nicole. She's absolutely beautiful." I knew my smile was sad but I couldn't help it. I missed home, a lot.

"Not as beautiful as you." He mumbled and I tactfully ignored it, despite my blush.

"What's this one?" I stiffened when he opened the sketch pad from three weeks ago.

I remained tight lipped as he flipped through page after page of my dad with a belt around his neck and his feet dangling above the knocked chair.

"That's my dad." My voice was barely audible but he must have heard because the sketch pad was closed carefully and placed back on the desk.

"I-I-I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I didn't…Diana?" He placed a comforting hand on my shoulder, my back was facing him.

"It's gross, I know. I found him and drew him." My laughter was quiet and I fought hard for it to not turn into sobs.

"I think this is the perfect time for that package." Paul turned me around and dug around in his pocket.

It took him a couple of tries, one of them was really awkward (cough condom cough), but a few seconds later an aluminum canister of film was pressed into my palm. A smile spread across my face, like butter on toast and I was saved the embarrassment of hoarsely asking how.

"Embry said you left the bonfire feeling down and I took it upon myself to look for it." His voice was actually sheepish.

"Thanks." I said, placing the precious 'package' under my pillow.

After that we walked back downstairs and finished the Pirates movie, speaking in mock British accents the rest of the night. It was relatively pleasant and Paul kept the touching to a minimum but the sexual innuendos in the movie were too hard to resist. I was pretty surprised Aunt Debra hadn't come downstairs and told us to shut up, we were laughing and talking so loudly.

"You're dirtier than I thought Di. Fooled evr'one else you did. But not me!" I had to admit his British accent was not only better than mine, but it actually made me blush.

"Piss off." I teased, throwing away the empty pizza box and rinsing the cups.

In a rare moment of comfortable silence, a loud howl echoing from the forest drifted into the house. I froze and looked at Paul with wide eyes. Aunt Debra was always talking about lions and wolves and bears, oh my. But I hadn't taken her seriously.

"Relax. It's not that big of a deal." Paul said lightly but his forced smile wasn't convincing.

"Why the hell are wolves so close to town?" I asked.

"They're just wolves." He rolled his eyes and hugged my waist from behind.

"Okay. You need to go home, now." I brushed him off and pulled him towards the front door.

I felt immediate regret. Why? Why did he have to ruin the night? We were having a good time, hanging out as friends.

"We were having fun." Paul frowned.

"Goodbye Paul." I insisted, opening the door and clicking my tongue.

"Come here." He walked towards me with his arms outstretched.

But I stopped his approach with a fist against his rock hard abdomen.

"Don't." I whispered.

"You know I'm getting really sick of your mood swings." He hissed and I inhaled sharply, eyes glued to my feet.

I had to hold my tongue from saying anything, even though I had a million and one things to shout back at his accusation. Mainly the fact that I wasn't the one suffering from bipolar disorder, he was. Acting like a jerk one minute then swinging around my house the next with pizza and a prized possession. After a date with one of his skanks no less. I was nothing more than a late night booty call.

"One minute we're friends, the next you act like I'm diseased." Paul forced me to look up.

"You _are_ diseased." I retorted, pushing him out of the house.

"You can be a real bitch sometimes." His eyes narrowed.

Something snapped me in then and I punched him right in the balls before slamming and locking the door in his face. I looked through the peephole and saw the distorted, fish eye image of Paul shaking with anger. I had to resist the urge to open the door and slap him in the face. How dare he! Paul Lahote was seriously delusional if he thought he could call me a bitch and walk away without a souvenir or two. I focused back on Paul, but nearly fell back when I saw what was on my doorstep. Gone was the tall, toned and tanned figure of Pissy Paul. Instead there was a huge, hulking…thing for lack of better words. I couldn't really tell what it was through the tiny hole, all I saw was fur and claws. My throat went dry when I heard it growl before it whipped around and shot off towards the woods. The howl of the thing hit my ears and I shivered. So much for 'it's not that big of a deal'. Serves Paul right….oh god.

Paul! What happened to him? Was he okay? Did that thing attack him? My hands struggled to unlock the door, they were shaking so hard. I opened the door slowly, half expecting to see a mutilated and bloodied Paul and half expecting to see that thing still there. But the night was quiet and empty, the crickets were still chirping as if nothing happened.

All that was left on my doorstep was a scrap of cloth. I gently picked it up and brought it in the house.

It was a shred of Paul's shirt.

A/N:

DUN, DUN, DUN!

Okay so I'm a tad late on my goal but promises are meant to be broken. I apologize for all spelling and grammar errors or choppy, awkward sentence structures. I've been working on this chapter at like 3:00 am for most nights so it may not be the best of my work.

Don't forget to review, review, review! I love you all.

Hugs'n'kisses, smiles'n'wishes,

Lacey


	5. Chapter 5

**Oh my glob! I have been getting so many good reviews, I'm so grateful to you all. I just wanted to take some time to thank you all so yeah. Thank you for reading, reviewing, favorite-ing and all the alerts on this story etc. It's kind of crazy when I look at all the visitors to the story and what countires some of them have been reading this story from. Anywhoo I'm rambling now so thanks again. I love you all. Enjoy! **

**Congrats to all you figured it out: **Something whorish this way comes! **^_^**

**To those of you who I couldn't reply to: **_CaitlinB54, ms-silent-dogwood _and_ Lucy_ **thanks! **

**A little spoiler, we've got a bit of Edward Cullen POV. Also you can go to my profile to check out any outfits/descriptions of what a character is wearing. I am really into fashion so haha yeah, in case you need a visual. **

**Without further ado/rambling here is chapter five. Enjoy lovelies. (; **

Chapter Five: Danger, Will Robinson!

I woke up the next day, bleary eyed and clutching the forest green colored scrap of cloth. At first it was hard to remember why I had it but the feeling of dread hit me like a bad bout of morning breath. Paul was dead. I was sure of it. That thing probably heard him crying after I punched him in the balls and swallowed him whole, before taking off for the woods. There was really no other logical explanation. As large as Paul was, there was absolutely no way he could fight it off. He was dead and it was entirely my fault. I should have never hit him in the balls, or let him in the house when he knocked on the door. Hell I would have rather had him trying to feel up on me again than being, slowly, digested in the stomach of some creature. Any time now the police would be knocking on the door, questioning the clueless Aunt Debra of his whereabouts. I was the last person he saw, proof of that was the aluminum film canister under my pillow. But I didn't want it anymore, not if it meant someone died for it. It felt dirty and I lobbed it across the room in anger. Any and everyone got too close to me died. It was as simple as that. My mother was dead, my father was dead and now Paul. I was a health hazard. Warning, step away from Di Byrne or suffer the consequences.

It was still early in the morning when I got into the shower. Even though the last thing I felt like doing was showering, I had to. The steamy glass box was a sanctuary and I could sit down to cry in peace. This was the only place I allowed myself to show emotion. I took a four hour shower the day after my dad died. There was something soothing about the way the tears mixed with water and the steady nozzle drowned out my cries. It was a little ridiculous but here I was, mourning for a boy I had met two days ago. Perhaps I wasn't as cold hearted as I liked to believe. But the idea that I was crying over him still unsettled me. I convinced myself that it was because I had respect for all life. So I grieved for the gigantic, yet gorgeous, pain in the ass that was Paul Lahote. By the time I crawled out, my hands and feet were like raisins and my throat felt raw. The mirror wasn't so kind either. My eyes were bloodshot and my face was a lovely shade of red. Only 728 more days. I bundled random articles of clothes off the floor into my arms and shimmied into them. So I didn't look exactly put together today, rompers and fishnet stockings weren't a typical combination, but was that really the point here?

No, the point was Paul was most likely dead.

I finished getting ready and called Embry's house to break the news. They were close friends and I didn't exactly have Paul's number. This was the next best thing.

"_Hello?" _

"Hey Embry." I barely registered the pain of straining my vocal chords.

"_Are you sick or something? Your voice is so hoarse." _

"No. Yes. I –I mean that's not why I called. I just wanted to ask about….Paul. He dropped by my house yesterday but left in a hurry." Was it suspicious that I call and ask about my now deceased nemesis? Could this conversation be used in court?

"_Yeah he was bitching about your freakishly bony knuckles last night." _

"Last night?" I croaked.

"_He said you punched him the balls. Kudos." _If he had talked to Embry last night after I punched him in the balls, then he was alive. I tumbled to the floor in happiness. He wasn't dead. I wasn't going to jail.

"_Hey, are you okay? What was that?" _I fumbled for the phone and assured him that everything was okay.

But now Embry left me with a bunch of questions. How had Paul escaped the beast? Why were there scraps of his clothes on the ground?

"I have to go get ready for school. But tell Paul I've got to talk to him. _Today_." I said as firmly as my nonw guttural voice allowed.

I hung up the phone and ran back upstairs to finish getting dressed. I was too lazy to change out of the ridiculous outfit which consisted of a colorful romper, fishnet stockings, a jean jacket and a black pair of Litas. I put on eyeliner, mascara, a leather bracelet and ring before getting my backpack. Aunt Debra was just waking up and I cautiously tip-toed downstairs to watch some early morning cartoons with a bowl of Frosted Flakes. I say cautiously because Aunt Debra was _not_ a morning person. As entertaining as the Looney Toons was, I couldn't stop thinking about that creature I had seen. Was it a bear? Or a wolf? I mean, that thing was humongous. I hadn't ever seen a bear or wolf up close but a few class trips to the zoo left me with the impression that nothing in nature was that big. By the time I was done with the cereal, Aunt Debra was rushing me out of the house.

My thoughts shifted to more important matters, surviving my first day of Forks High School. And it would be easier said than done because from the second Aunt Deb waved me off, the staring started. Yech. It was almost like La Push High. If only I had worn jeans, maybe I wouldn't look so…ostentatious? I don't know but having this many people gawking would only lead to clumsiness. Speaking of ostentatious, a few moments after my arrival a cherry red Ferrari convertible revved in along with a huge silver jeep and a black Volvo. The entire parking lot tore their gaze away from me long enough to stare at the people coming out of the brazen vehicles. And that's my cue, I practically ran out of the parking lot, eyes glued to the floor, and didn't stop until I ducked in the front office.

"Hi new student Diana Byrne schedule?" I wheezed.

So I wasn't exactly 'physically fit' but come on. I'm a small gal, I can't add muscle mass to my frame without looking like a bodybuilder. The secretary shoved a piece of paper at me before picking up the phone and putting an end to the incessant ringing noise. I looked it over in the safety of the office. Calculus, English, Chemistry, blah blah blah. Bingo, AP Studio Art with a Mrs. Hardwick. It would be right after lunch, really good considering that would be when I was least hungry. That's if I survive the rest of the day because as soon as I stumbled out of the office, the staring started again. Greaaat. On the top of my schedule was my locker number and the combination. I wandered aimlessly, looking for the bloody thing and when I was close to giving up someone tapped my shoulder. It was a girl with long brown hair and brown eyes. She was as pale as I was, which was kind of surprising, and dressed plainly except for the Gucci bag around her arm. It looked absurd, out of place and I had to stifle a laugh.

"I feel your pain. I was new last year." She smiled timidly.

"So I'm guessing they stare regardless?" I winced half at my unintentionally husky voice and half at the situation at hand.

"Pretty much. I'm Bella Swan." Bella held a hand out and I shook it enthusiastically. Finally, a sane person in this godforsaken town.

"Di Byrne." I said.

Bella turned out to be heaven sent, I mean really. She took me to my locker, gave me a quick breakdown of the school which was much more helpful than the poorly copied map on the back of the schedule. I had a few classes with her and she even offered me a spot at lunch. It didn't take me long to realize the only reason why we clicked so easily is because we were both awkward, she even more so than I. Bella was perpetually stumbling over random objects, including air. She had a quivering voice and seemed unsure in every action but her intentions were sweet and she was polite to all the people that stared. I, on the other hand, wanted to crawl in a hole and die whenever someone's eyes lingered.

"Alright, Calculus is your first class of the day. Don't come out too braindead." She joked.

"I'll try my hardest." I said solemnly before cracking a smile and going into the classroom.

It turned out to be harder than I thought. The teacher was absolutely horrid, Mr. Schaefer had the most monotonous voice on the planet. I gave him my schedule and he skipped over the 'new student' spiel, thank god. I melted into the background, well as much as a girl in fishnets could, and tried my hardest to keep up in class. His voice was almost as tedious as the material. Everything he said went over my head and I realized, quickly, that I was already behind in this class. I'm not a genius, hell I'm not even smart. I'm one of those people who _has_ to work hard and put 110% of my being to earn a B in a class. I was the one with the color coded notes and flashcards, studying for a test two weeks in advance. It was tiresome but it hadn't failed me yet, so I scrounged for the classroom nerd. When one is looking for a nerd to help one in class, skip over the kids sitting in the front who are engrossed with what the teacher has to say. No, no then you'll get kids like me. The ones who have to pay attention or fail. The trick is to look towards the middle of the classroom, for the kids that are inattentively taking notes and looking bored. Find that kid and you'll find the smartest kid in class. In my case the class nerd had long black hair and was dressed in what could only be described as a 'hip' style. His jeans were slim against his long legs, chuck taylors adorned his feat and the black dress shirt on him was topped with a slim black tie. He had Asian features and long, feathery black hair. He looked bored, a tell tale sign of intelligence, and was absent mindedly twirling a pen in his hand.

As soon as the lecture was done, I shot up from my seat to introduce myself to him. This guy would be my meal ticket in this horrible class. But I guess my approach was a little too forward cause he practically jumped out of his desk in surprise.

"I'm Di." I held a hand out and he shook it enthusiastically.

"My name's Eric." Eric looked elated that I introduced myself to him but was still surprised.

"Can you help me out? I have no idea what's going on." I smiled sheepishly.

"The truth is revealed. She only came up to you cause she knew you were a geek Eric." The guy next to him laughed raucously.

He had blonde hair and blue eyes, looked the typical high school jock.

"I came up to him cause he's quite obviously the smartest in this class. I don't see how that makes him a geek." I said slowly.

I had meant for it to sound snarky but my voice was barely above a whisper thanks to the blubber fest from earlier this morning.

"Thank you m'lady. Don't pay too much attention to Mike. He's just jealous because girls run screaming from him." Eric taunted the blue-eyed boy who gave him a dry laugh in return.

Turns out I was correct in my guess because Eric spent the last ten minutes of class diligently reviewing the atrocious sermon Mr. Schaefer had given. I wrote everything he explained on my arm and thanked him profusely when the bell rang. The stupid homework Schaefer had given us suddenly made sense and I couldn't wait to conquer it. And yes, by conquering it I mean finishing it.

"Thank you so much Eric." I smiled.

"It was no biggie. I couldn't let you put your faith in Newton here, he's dumber than a sack of potatoes." Eric shoved his friend playfully.

"But I'm the good looking one." Mike whined before they broke out into laughter.

I waved goodbye before continuing to my next class, Honors English. The teacher's name was Mr. Fudneburgh. Before giving me a dog eared copy of _Hamlet_, he insisted I call him Mr. Fuddy.

I noted the copy he had given me wasn't a No Fear so that meant I'd spend hours trying to riddle out just what the hell each character was saying. Curse my stupidity! I should actually curse my persistence and conscience. For some reason I couldn't live with myself if I got a bad grade in a class when I knew that if I had simply worked harder it wouldn't have happened.

"Everyone calls me Mr. Fuddy." He waved away my protests and told me to sit anywhere.

All eyes were on me but I stared intently at the floor, not caring about who was in this class. I just needed to make it out of this class and Chemistry alive before glorious food. Then AP Studio Art. Huzzah! I drifted to the back, sitting behind a boy who looked more like a rat. He smelled like one too and I almost choked when his odor wafted towards me. This was a baaad idea.

"Hello, hello class. How are you all feeling today?" Mr. Fuddy greeted the class warmly.

I was more than surprised when they all replied with equal enthusiasm, yelling his name to get his attention. They actually _liked_ him. Taking in his disheveled yet rustic charm, I realized I did too. He reminded me of those funky uncles that every typical kid had. The ones that never really grew up and traveled to far off countries, bringing back a wild story and trinket for you.

"Class I'd like you to welcome a new student to our class. Diana Byrne." He gestured for me to stand up and I started liking him less. Curse you Fudnebrough!

As if people needed a reason to eye the idiot in the back who chose to sit next to Rat Boy. I waved stiffly at the audience before me and Mr. Fuddy, curse him, forced me to introduce myself.

"I'm Di, I used to go to school in Boston before I moved here to live with my aunt. Yeeahh…" I trailed off before someone coughed awkwardly and Mr. Fuddy, bless him, redirected the attention to him.

Mr. Fuddy informed me that the class had been acting out scenes from the play before he assigned characters for students to portray and gave said students little props. Maybe this would be a good thing though, I could snicker in the back while kids embarrassed themselves. Good opportunity right? Wrong. Fuddy called out my name and said I would be playing Ophelia. if you don't know _Hamlet_ it's basically about some Norwegian prince dude named Hamlet who goes batshit crazy after his dad, the king, dies. He starts seeing his dad's ghost who is telling him to avenge his death. His ghost/dad/king says his death was actually a murder committed by none other than his Uncle, who conveniently gets the throne after his brother dies. Then there are all these other random people just floating around in the story to spice up the plot. Like his mom, Gertrude, who he hates for marrying his uncle. Horatio, his best friend. Claudius, the big antagonist and his Uncle, as mentioned before. Polonious, the guy with the stick up his ass. But the character I would be playing, Ophelia, was his love interest and the daughter of Polonious. Historians argue as to whether Hamlet really loved her since he kind of hates her towards the end and blah blah blah. But the point is that every interpretation of the play has them having the hots for each other. And they do. So don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It's only natural that I force myself to stop blushing and mumbling at my copy of the play and check out who would be playing Hamlet.

And once I started staring at the student who would be my Hamlet, for all intents and purposes, I couldn't stop. His skin was paler than anyone I'd ever seen in my life with skin as smooth as a baby's bottom. High cheekbones, chiseled jaw and pink lips set into a slight frown. He had golden locks that fell to his chin in waves and matched his eyes in color. They were locked onto mine, framed by dark lashes that rested on his eyelashes and under thick dark brown eyebrows. Something about his eyes terrified me and the breath left my body. Something was telling me to get away from him fast, that same thing was telling me was dangerous. But I couldn't move, I was spellbound by his beauty and his dark eyes. For a second I remembered that fateful day not a month ago in that awful attic. I remembered the feeling of terror when I walked in the house and found nobody hope. I remembered opening every door in the house before pulling down the stairs to the attic. I remembered the all consuming pain and misery of seeing him, dead. I had been crumpled on the ground, unable to breath, unable to move before the sorrow that had descended on me was lifted. Have you ever felt emotions so strong that your body becomes useless? A pain so strong that you can't even bear to think of it again, instead you lock it up in a box in the back of your mind and swallow the key just so you never have to feel like that again. And in that classroom, I experienced all those emotions again.

_Hamlet_, the play fell with a thunk to the floor as Hamlet, the guy, did too. I brought myself back from that attic in Boston and rushed towards him, even though moments ago I was scared stiff. I tried to lift him up and his hands grabbed my shoulder in a grip so strong and cold I yelped.

"Let me go!" I squirmed away from him but he only tightened his hold and I thought my shoulders would crack under him.

"Mr. Hale!" Fuddy gasped, trying to wrench his hands off me to no avail.

I heard people rushing around me and someone ran out of the classroom, to get the nurse presumably. His breath was ragged and his eyes were glazed but eventually he let my shoulders go in favor of jacket. Hamlet was holding onto it for dear life, practically hyperventilating on my lap.

"Don't leave me." He pleaded causing me to turn beet red.

"I won't." I choked out before awkwardly patting his hair.

I had forgotten all about how his eyes caused temporary paralysis and terror. It was unnerving, having someone as stunning as him thrashing on my lap. Maybe he was having a seizure but I realized he wasn't convulsing so much as he was shaking. After a few seconds the shaking died down and his breathing slowed. By the time the nurse came in Hamlet was sitting up, taking deep breaths in and deep breaths out.

"What in the world is going on? Jasper!" The nurse cried out.

"I think he's meditating?" I offered.

The class fell quiet then and I regretted ever opening my mouth. We were all staring intently at Hamlet, who was still in a trance. Eventually his eyes fluttered open and he gave a shaky smile.

"I apologize, that was an anxiety attack just then. I might have forgotten to take my medication this morning." His voice was smooth and had a southern twang.

Tension in the room died down and a wave of calm and satisfaction hit me. Everyone let out a collective sigh but I felt a tinge of apprehension. The calming vibe that seemed to be rolling through the room like a breeze barely distracted me from what had just happened. Jaspers excuse sounded way too practiced and calculated and my shoulders were still throbbing. Two guys in the class quickly helped him up and escorted him out of the room, trailed by the still confused nurse and a girl holding his backpack. Jasper had avoided any eye contact with me and it seemed like everyone else was ignoring me as well. I stood up by myself and asked Mr. Fuddy if I could get some ice from the nurse's office for my shoulders. Suddenly I was back under the microscope and the occupants of the room eyed me warily, as if I was the cause of his 'anxiety attack'.

"But of course! Let me write you a pass!" Fuddy was still a little shaken from the whole thing.

I grabbed my things, knowing I wouldn't be heading back, and wrote down which acts of the play were expected to be read by tonight. I left quietly and didn't sigh until I was alone in the hallway. My hands were still shaking and my shoulders ached from the cold kung-fu grip of Jasper. I bobbed into an empty bathroom and carefully removed my jacket, wincing the entire way through. They were swollen and bruises were developing already. By the time I went home both shoulders would be covered in purple. At least some ice would bring down the swelling but that would mean having to see that liar again. Don't ask me how I know he's a liar. I just do okay? Something seemed off about how quickly the situation diffused and how content everyone was immediately after. I would have been suckered in by it if my sockets hadn't been screaming in pain. I hate confrontations but I needed ice to get the swelling down so I walked to the nurse's office, slowly.

I was already hating this school.

**Edward Anthony Masen Cullen **

I do not hate many things but Chemistry? I loathe. Maybe it is because this is the one class I do not share with Bella. But sitting in the back of that wretched class with it's equally wretched teacher for the millionth time in my long long life was absolute torture. I did the only thing I do when I am bored, I counted. I counted the minutes until this period was over and then I counted the seconds. I counted the tiles on the ceiling and the tiles on the floor. When I ran out of things to count I busied myself with thoughts of Bella.

As hard as I tried to block out the thoughts of the students around me a single thought slipped through the mental barrier I had spent years perfecting.

_Oh my god, Jasper Hale had a panic attack in English! I've got to text Stacy and Marley and Leah and eeeeep! _

I audible winced at her high pitched squeal but her thought capture my attention. Jasper had a panic attack? This could only mean one thing, he ran into temptation and could not stop himself. He was, after all, new to the 'special diet'. I frowned and slowly brought down the mental barrier. I do not always snoop through other's thoughts but when the situation calls for it, I will. And the situation called for it. The quiet buzz of activity in the back of mind suddenly morphed into audible chatter. The rumors of his panic attack had spread like wild fire and almost everyone in class was texting someone about it or thinking about it. After a few seconds of the chaos I weeded out the thoughts that I needed from the thoughts that were obviously false rumors. Apparently the new student, Di Byrne, saw the entire thing. Her name was oddly familiar and I mulled over it until I remembered. Her aunt, Debra Moore, had talked to Carlisle about the arrival of her niece. At the time, I was too curious to resist digging around her aunt's mind and I found out that she was moving in with Debra because of her father's recent death. Her mother had died many years ago.

As luck would have it, Di was sitting in this very class. The thoughts of my classmates faded back to a buzz and I furrowed my brow at her. Diana was small and fragile looking, even for human standards. She was sitting stiffly in her chair and I did not know if it was because she realized everyone was whispering about her. I received my answer when I saw her reach into her purse for a bag of ice, which she placed on her shoulders. What had caused that injury? I battled my conscience as to whether or not I should look through her mind. Finally my guilt relented and I started listening in on her thoughts.

_What should I say to Paul? How can I confront him about it? I know he'll try to come up with some way to worm out of it. He isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed but I know what I saw. Uhhh but how can I explain what I saw? Okay, okay I'm making this more complicated than it has to be. I should just march right up to him and ask him how in god's name he is still alive when I know for a fact some giant wildebeest was on the very same porch that I emasculated him on. Easy as chicken pot pie. Mmmm speaking of which, I am so hungry right now. _

A chuckle bubbled up from my throat and escaped my lips, earning me a few seconds in the spotlight. The teacher gave me a curious class before continuing his lesson and eventually everyone went back to their business. It could not be helped, her thoughts were perhaps the funniest I had yet to see. Did she really think it was so simple? Her thoughts flitted from Paul to food to Paul back to food. I had my suspicions as to who Paul was. After all, were there really any other shape shifters named Paul? But what did she see? And why were the wolves even in Forks? The treaty clearly states they defend on their lands so if he did phase on our territory, this was an act of aggression. I would have to speak with Carlisle about this. But first I would have to speak with Jasper. I silently begged for Diana to recall any shred of the event while I was still listening. Diana flinched suddenly and my mind was flooded with colorful words. She had quite a mouth on her.

_That lying git Jasper, when I get my hands on him! My shoulders are kaput, I probably won't be able to paint or draw for the next week. And now nobody is going to shut up about me. As if being new meat isn't hard enough, now I have to be the topic of discussion thanks to that freakishly gorgeous, kung-fu grip wielding moron. _

I was practically bouncing with anticipation and, eventually, she relented to my unspoken pleas and replayed the events. From what I could tell, Diana looked at him, his beauty frightened her and she started thinking about something she called 'the dreadful day in the attic'. I had no idea what she meant by this but Jasper simply collapsed after this and Diana tried to help him before he 'unleashed [his] kung-fu grip'. I reminded myself to scold him for forgetting to control his strength. She was a human girl and he could have seriously injured her. Jasper told her to stay with him and she obliged before he calmed down and used his powers to calm everyone down.

Of course this still left me with questions and I could not be more grateful when the bell rang. I wove through the crowds with relative ease and when I spotted Jasper, I tugged him aside roughly. The hallway we had ducked into was empty and I looked around before bombarding him with questions.

"What were you thinking? You could have hurt her!" I hissed.

"I see you've heard about what happened this morning." Came his cool reply.

"Cut the crap. What made you collapse?" I snapped.

"I –I'm not really sure." Jasper sounded nervous and I took a few deep breaths to collect myself.

"What do you mean you're not sure?" I spoke through clenched teeth.

"I mean I'm not sure. One minute she was looking at me, spewing fear and awe. The next I got hit with a tsunami of misery. I have never experience pain and despair so raw. I couldn't move, I could barely breathe. I could barely control my strength, I just felt an anchor back to reality and I held on." He shook his head slowly.

"And it came…from her?" I asked and he nodded quickly.

"Well we should tell the others about this. The last thing we need is an angry Rosalie." I sighed running a hand through my hair.

"Is she alright? I didn't mean to hurt her." Jasper inquired.

"From what I can tell, her shoulders are just bruised. She was a little suspicious about how everything went back to normal, she felt you controlling the emotions in the room but she didn't know it was you. You should probably apologize though, at lunch. Bella invited her to sit with us." I said lightly.

"If that doesn't tick Rosalie off, I don't know what will." He smiled.

"You will have to start being more careful around her. No more mood control unless it's absolutely necessary." I warned.

"I know. I can't remember the last time somebody's emotions had that big of an effect on me." Jasper sighed.

We walked out of the hallway and I quickly explained everything to Emmett and Alice, instructing them to break the news to Rosalie. I was most definitely not going to deal with that. On the Brightside, this would certainly be an interesting lunch…

**Diana Dierdre Byrne**

Lunch was weird. I mean, who knew there was entire school full of these creepy, beautiful people? I had loaded my plate with so much food, I was kind of scared of a replay of La Push High. But I made it safely to the opposite side of the lunchroom. Bella had waved me over to the table of _them_. I saw Hamlet…errr Jasper and he nodded at me. That would take some getting used to. In fact, it would take a while getting used to all of them. Individually they were breathtaking but when they came together I found it hard to look at them, forget talking to them.

"This is my boyfriend, Edward Cullen." Bella looked at us hopefully and I shook his hand.

He had a small smile on his face and I immediately felt inferior. As if that wasn't bad enough, Bella introduced me to more of the Cullen family. There was humongous Emmett (again…anabolic steroids), pixie Alice, angelic Rosalie and kung-fu grip Jasper. All of them were equally stunning and I found myself wanting to bury my face in my tray, I felt so inadequate. But they all seemed nice enough, even if Rosalie had a bit of a scowl and Jasper was a liar. It still rubbed me the wrong way how everyone in class relaxed immediately after he started talking, like we all took a hit off of an invisible bong. Edward was looking at me, amused, the entire time.

"So, how are you liking Forks High?" Bella smiled at me before diving into her salad.

"It's been alright, the staring has slowly died down." I took a tentative glance upwards and saw that only Bella and I had actual food on our plate.

Weird…

We lapsed into another silence and I, again, cursed my lack of social skills. We had nothing to talk about, nothing in common and I couldn't help but feel it was my fault.

"Jasper how are you feeling?" I cleared my throat and fidgeted at their intense staring.

"I'm better now. I actually wanted to apologize, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. How are your shoulders?" He looked a little uptight, almost scared of my reply.

"Are you from the south? You've got a Southern intonation." I changed the topic fluidly, not wanting to think about how angry I was at him or how weird his outburst was in English.

"Why, yes I am. If you don't mind my asking, what kind of an accent do you have?" Jasper still looked a little tense but less so.

I froze. How in the hell did they notice? In the part of Boston that I hailed from, a thick Irish accent was expected. It was normal. My mother was black Irish and had the typical features of one, inky black hair, pale white skin and blue eyes. My father was from Northern Ireland and had dark red hair, brown eyes and pale, freckled skin. My dad made sure he spoke only Gaelic to me at home but after a few years of public school and the like, the accent had mostly faded. I rarely spoke Gaelic at home but my friends and I still used the more colorful words amongst each other. You can imagine why I would be surprised when he mentioned it.

"It's Irish." I said after an awkward beat.

They all nodded and we finished the lunch in silence. I took advantage of the quiet to draw up a battle plan regarding the Cullen family. By battle plan, I mean reasons to start avoiding them. So far this is what I had gathered from them.

1. The Cullen family is made up of abnormally beautiful people. Why would anyone need to look this good? More importantly _how _can anyone look this good?

2. For some reason, my gut is telling me to keep as far away from them as possible.

3. Jasper Hale, the southern one, has infrequent anxiety attacks and is now wary of me.

4. Jasper also has kung-fu grip and really cold hands.

5. Back in that English classroom, I felt a collective calm…I don't know how it happened, I don't know how everyone swallowed up Jasper's excuses but for the time being I can only blame him.

6. Edward Cullen laughs and smiles at himself a lot, which brings me to my next point…

7. He must be crazy.

8. Rosalie hates me or she just enjoys shooting lasers at me from her eyes.

9. Alice spaces out a lot.

Okay, I'm aware these reasons are stupid and pointless. I mean why would you do everything in your power to avoid someone because they smile and laugh a lot? Shouldn't that make you _want_ to get to know this person? Maybe they're happy by nature. But whenever I caught Edward smiling I got the feeling that he knew something I didn't. This entire family was just weird. So as soon as the bell rang, I practically ran out of the lunchroom, not even bothering to wave goodbye. If everything worked out my way, this would be the absolute last time I saw them.

A/N:

I'm sOoooOOo sorry I am four days past my deadline but my internet is so whack. I should have chapter six done in a week. Thank you to all who reviewed and read. I love you all.

In other news, school starts soon. Gahh! I'm gonna miss sleeping in and midnight runs to Taco Bell. I go to college in a little town and I'm seriously considering transferring to a bigger college in an actual city because of the lack of McDonalds and Caribou and Taco Bell and other ridiculous fast food/coffee chains. If anyone here is from the Midwest, you know why Caribou is waaayyy better than Starbucks. ;D

Anywhoo, enjoy! Review like crazy. Until we meet again my friends.

Hugs'n'kisses,

Lace

Anywhoo, enjoy! Review like crazy. Until we meet again my friends.

Hugs'n'kisses,

Lace


	6. Chapter 6

**You guys are the abso'frickin'lute best. I could not have asked for better readers and friends. Because I really do consider each and every one of you guys friends, I always try my hardest to thank you personally via PMs and gahhh I just love you all. You make my day. I put my other story on hold but I think I'll get back into it around September so if you were reading both stories, expect only updates from this one. **

**This chapter is a little shorter but only because I wanted to keep within my deadline of a week. I am starting school soon and I've got to replenish my closet and not to mention school supplies and textbooks and moving all my shit back into my dorm. Wish me luck! **

**Enjoy the Paul/Di action mes amours! :D **

Chapter Six: Dirty Little Secrets

Although school was unusually long, I managed to befriend my new art teacher and get on the good side of the rest of my teachers. I even followed through on my plan to avoid the Addam's Family. Aunt Debra's hatchback was a sight for sore eyes and I even hugged her. Forks High would not be missed and with every second we drove away from it, my smile grew.

"How was your first day?" Aunt Debra asked, her face pulled into a grimace.

"Great." I gave her a curt reply, not wanting to deal with the awkwardness of a substitute parent.

This seemed to satisfy her and she got out of the car in a flurry of activity, mentioning something about paper's to grade. I took my sweet time and when I did get into the house, I grabbed a bag of pretzels and Nutella before retiring to my room. Changing out of the stupid outfit was the first thing I did. I settled into a t-shirt and shorts, feeling much more comfortable without the tug of the fishnets. Teachers' at Forks spared no worksheet nor page in assigning me homework on my first day of school, I had a lot to work on tonight. Not to mention I still hadn't confronted Paul. But for some reason my priorities were sensible, homework first mysteries later.

I started on my calculus worksheet and finished it within the hour. I moved on to chemistry and then knocked out a few acts of _Hamlet_. My stomach won over my one track mind and I shoved everything back into my rucksack. Aunt Debra was still working on papers and she kicked me, politely, out of her room with a credit card.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" I asked.

"Order Chinese or something. Now get out before I throw this pencil at you." She smiled and I promptly left the room.

I was skipping down the stairs, eager for orange chicken when I realized I still hadn't talked to Paul. I carefully walked back into Aunt Debra's room to ask for the number to Sam and Emily's house.

"Here you go. If you come in here again, I'll have to slice you with these papers." Aunt Debra laughed at her threat and handed me a slip of paper.

I let her be and called the number.

"_Hello?" _

"Hey this is Di. I was wondering if Paul was around?" I replied to the deep voice, if I had to guess it was Sam.

"_Hold on a minute." _

I heard a lot of angry discussion in the background and I thought I recognized Paul's voice. I strained myself against the receiver, catching the last snippets of the conversation.

"_She's fucking with your emotions! You said it yourself." _

"_I'm sorry, you seem to have mistaken me for someone who gives even the slightest of a fuck." _That sarcastic reply earned a chuckle out of me and I had no doubts that it came from the man of the hour, Paul.

"_You phased in front of her. You realize how dangerous that was? You could have seriously hurt her." _

"_She didn't see. It's not that big of a deal." _

"_Yes it was. You don't understand anything, you think like a five year old. You said the same thing when you first saw her!" _

"_Paul. We're not doing this to spite you, we're not trying to get in between you and your imprint." _

"_As if I care that she's my imprint." _He snapped but it seemed a little unconvincing, even to himself.

"_That's enough. You can't go over there, I forbid it. And I don't want to hear anything out of Paul. You brought this on yourself when you phased, you're putting the treaty on the line here. And as much as you like to think everything is about you, it's not. You are not to go over to her house. __**That's an order.**__" _The chatter faded into a dead silence.

"_Fuck you." _But it sounded like utter defeat and the phone crackled in my ear, as if Sam remembered I was still on the line.

"_I'm sorry Diana but he's not available at the moment." _Sam hung up then, before I could protest.

The quiet rage that had been building finally cracked and I slammed down the receiver. Sam had lied! I was on the line the entire time, listening to practically every word. I _heard_ Paul's voice! Did he really think I was that stupid? And then there was that word that had come up several times since my arrival at La Push. Imprint. I grabbed a permanent marker and scrawled the word on my hand in big, bolded letters. There was no way I would forget the word, I would look it up tonight. But more importantly, my conversation with Paul was going to happen. I didn't know how I would make it happen but I would. The first thing I did was write Aunt Debra a note, telling her I'd be over at Emily's house to pick up something I had left at the bonfire. Then I ran upstairs and got ready. I didn't think twice as I pulled on a pair of ripped tights, a camel colored tank top and an oversized, brown knitted cardigan. A pair of mocha colored, buckeled, chunky heeled boots were pulled on along with a small leopard print bag that carried my license and the pieces of Paul's clothes that had littered my doorstep. A camera went around my neck as a last minute thought, in case Sam banished me from his house and I needed something to pass the time with. My hair was in complete disarray and I pulled it into a fishtail braid. The blonde and black locks mixed together in what I had to admit was a pretty cool way, and a few tendrils escaped. Pale pink lipstick and a coat of mascara were last minute decisions.

I inspected myself in the mirror and frowned. What was the point in getting dressed up when I knew Sam was probably going to awkwardly kick me out of his house? I wanted to believe that when he was forbidding Paul from seeing this mystery girl, he was talking about one of his whores. Maybe even Corbin. But it just seemed so convenient that they should have this conversation when I called. I shook my head and walked quickly to the car, breaking a few world records on my drive. Usually I'm horrendous with directions but for some reason I had no trouble finding the little red house in the middle of the woods. I ripped the keys out of the ignition and leaped out of the car, ready to barrel past Sam's hulking figure to get to Paul. But I was surprised when Sam opened the door with tired eyes.

"As expected." He mumbled, stepping aside to let me in.

I scuttled into the house, still in shock. I had fully expected an army of people to be standing between me and the house but it looks like I had won this battle. The living room was bursting with people, literally. There was Jacob, Seth, Quil, Embry, Jared, Emily and another girl I had never seen. They were all circled around another person, fussing over them. Even Paul was standing in the circle, giving curious and sly glances at the mystery person. I cleared my throat and they still didn't look up. Sam breezed past me and entered the circle of people with ease.

"Alright give her some space, jeez." He boomed and everyone sheepishly backed away to reveal the last person I expected to be here.

"_Diana_?" She squealed before attacking me with a hug.

"K –Kim!" I slowly hugged her back before asking what the hell she was doing.

Jared was standing next her in a flash, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at me. I shook my head in disbelief, today might possibly be the weirdest day of my entire life.

"Jared invited me to h –hang out." Kim looked thoroughly embarrassed.

"Carpe diem?" I raised my brow at her and she nodded furiously.

Wow. This was unexpected. I hadn't even expected her to talk to him.

"What're you doing here?" She blurted and I wanted to shrink into a dark corner and never come back.

"I came to speak with Paul." I murmured quietly.

"Why?" Kim's eyes were wide and I remembered that she thought I hated him.

Err… that came out wrong. I remembered that she _knew _I hated him.

"Because he left something at my house last night." I executed the white lie smoothly.

"Why was he at your house?" Kim smiled and I froze. Shit shit shit, that came out reaaalllyy wrong.

I pretended not to hear her question and boldly walked up to Paul, grabbed his large forearm and pulled him outside. Well as boldly as a blushing, bumbling, fool could. At least he didn't put up a fight, in fact Paul looked pretty amused by my sudden confidence.

"Come to apologize?" He gave me a crooked grin, his eyes twinkling with delight.

No, no Diana. His grin is not crooked it's perverted and his eyes don't twinkle with delight, they gleam with evil.

"Hell no." I spat and his grin turned into a frown.

"Then I don't care what you have to say." Paul made a move to go back in the house but I grabbed the edge of t-shirt and stopped him.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry I had to hit you because you called me a bitch." I said flippantly.

"That's got to be the worst apology I've ever heard." He snorted.

"What did you expect me to do? You called me a bitch so I punched you in the balls. You deserved it." I snapped, losing patience quickly.

"You said I was diseased. _You_ deserved it." He shot back.

"Because you are. Paul you have sex in public restrooms. You go on dates with skanks then try to rub up on me. I'm sorry but that kind of qualifies you as 'diseased'." I shrugged.

"You're still mad about Corbin aren't you?" He taunted.

"Why would I be mad about that? It's your life Paul do whatever the hell you want with it, get all the STDs in the world if you want." I laughed humorlessly.

"What's the real reason why you're here? It's a little hard to believe that you came here only to torment me." He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

I opened my bag silently and took out a piece of the forest green shirt he had on last night. When I waved it in front of him Paul froze.

"I want to know why you're not dead." I said.

Absolute silence followed. The only thing that could be heard were the grasshoppers doing an accapella of Britney Spears 'Hit Me Baby One More Time'.

"I have no idea what you're talking about" He lied.

Yeah, that's right. Paul Lahote looked me right in the eye and lied.

"You're lying." I spat out, stabbing him with my finger.

"No, I'm not." Another lie! And when I voiced this he snorted.

"I know what I saw." I insisted.

"And what's that exactly?" His eyes narrowed.

"Some wolf, wildebeest thing was on the porch with you. Your clothes were all over the ground, you should be in a hospital. A victim of a bear mauling!" I persevered. Stay the course, he _will_ crack!

"Look Di, you had a headache last night. You were still shaken up from our fight. You probably imagined the whole thing." Paul said firmly.

"No!" I cried out, my breathing was really hard then. Why was he lying to me?

"What do you want me to tell you?" He asked quietly.

"The truth." I croaked, the yelling had taken up what little of my voice I had left.

"You don't want that." He let out a humorless chuckle.

The silence fell over his again. Paul was leaning in a dark corner of the porch and looked deep in thought, something I didn't know he was capable of. I was standing by the door, still clenching and unclenching my fists. I knew there wasn't much I could do, it's not like I could beat the truth out of him. So I let out the breath I had been holding and sat on the swinging chair. The rhythmic squeaks of the chair barely registered, I stared at the piece of cloth in my hands and tried to remember that night. I knew what I saw, there _was_ something out there with Paul that night. After a while he came over and sat next to me.

"I thought you were dead." I blurted out, feeling the need to break the quiet.

"Were you worried about me?" Paul's voice was curious.

"Of course. But only because I thought it was my fault. After all, I was the one that kicked you out of the house…" I rolled my eyes.

A breeze tousled the strands of hair in my face and I involuntarily hugged my knees to my chest. Even with the huge sweater on I was frozen but Paul seemed perfectly content with his thin t-shirt. In fact he moved closer to me. Pretty soon I felt his heavy arm draped across my shoulders and his warm hand rub my arm. A cannon of bees was shot into my stomach and I ignored the buzzing. I automatically leaned into him, surprising even myself. It's only because I'm cold! But apparently I voiced that last thought because a deep laughter bubbled up from him.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night hon." He shook his head, laughing again.

I didn't even bother to defend myself, I just snuggled closer and focused on how he smelled like soap and a hint of pine. His foot pushed us lightly and we swayed back and forth.

"Are you ever going to tell me the truth?" I murmured against his chest.

"If everything goes my way….no." Paul said bluntly.

"Oh." I couldn't help but sound dejected.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about it, there are a lot of people rooting for the other team and things rarely go my way. Besides, we're both pretty comfortable right now. Let's not ruin it by opening our big mouths." He sighed, leaning his head against mine.

"You're still diseased." I reminded him after dismissing his obscure speech.

We stayed curled up next to each other for a few more minutes and I honestly couldn't complain. As stupid and annoying as he was, Paul also happened to be a really good teddy bear.

"You know, every time I see you, you've got a camera around your neck." Paul said.

"Do I?" I tried thinking back to all the times I'd seen him.

"Is that what you see yourself doing in the future?" He asked.

"Either that or painting. I want to go to college out in New York after high school." I confessed easily.

He went stiff then and I looked up to see him looking angry. He tightened his hold on me and I winced, still feeling pain in my shoulders.

"What's wrong?" He immediately asked.

"My shoulders are sore." I grumbled, taking the opportunity to massage them.

"Why, what happened?" Paul practically growled and my heart hammered in my chest. For some reason my gut was telling me to lie, lie like never before.

"I uhhh slept weird." I replied.

"You're lying to me. Let me see your shoulders." He said, not unkindly.

I resisted at first but he eventually grabbed both of my hands with one of his and held them to my lap. He expertly unbuttoned the over-sized sweater with the other, a skill he probably acquired after years of practice. Yech. Paul carefully tugged it off, exposing me to the elements, and I shivered in my tank top. The bruises were a dark purple now, standing out sharply against my pale skin tone. Paul was at a loss for words and he unknowingly loosened his grip on my hands.

"It's not that big of a deal." I said dryly, making a move to put the sweater back on.

But he stopped me again and dipped his head down, carefully looking over the damage. I shivered when his warm breath tickled my collar bone.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He murmured over and over again before carefully brushing his lips against the contusions.

I jolted, the bees in my stomach had morphed into angry bats. This was not good. Paul inhaled deeply and snapped his head up.

"What's wrong?" I gulped, my voice was ridiculously shaky and I prayed that he wouldn't notice.

Paul's features were dark and angry.

"I'm only going to ask you this one more time Diana. Who did this to you?"

My throat went dry when I felt him shaking with rage, reminiscent of the night on my porch. I couldn't find the words to tell him but he shot up anyway, swearing a storm and yelling for Sam. I stumbled up from the chair, still reeling from his drastic mood change. What the actual math. Sam and Paul practically ran outside and I wanted to follow but I knew it would only piss him off even more. So instead I carefully buttoned up the sweater and went back in the house. Inside, nobody said anything about our absence and I easily melted into the discussion. Kim was sitting on a couch with Jared's head in her lap, looking thoroughly embarrassed. Jared looked happy where he was but Kim seemed a little uncomfortable, her hands folded neatly in her lap. Emily asked me if I was hungry and when I shook my head, she forced a plate on me anyway. Paul eventually came back inside but avoided me the entire rest of the night, he didn't look at me, speak to me. Even if the conversation was directed to me, he simply focused elsewhere. After a few hours of talking and the like Paul, Jared and Embry got ready to leave. Kim made a move to call her parents for a ride but I stopped her and offered to take her home with the intention of milking her for details.

"Nonsense I'll take you home myself." Kim's face looked horrified when she realized why I was so eager.

All of us walked out of the house at the same time, standing at our respective cars. Jared had gently tugged Kim away from me, probably to say goodbye and I just stood there digging into the grass with my toe. Paul was still giving me the cold shoulder but Embry marched right up to me and swept me into an awkward hug.

"You definitely have to hang out with us more often. And punch Paul more often." He laughed.

Paul remained tight lipped at the comment but I gave my word to Embry and Jared and Kim appeared again, one of them blushing the other smiling stupidly. You can guess which was which. As soon as we pulled out of the driveway I ordered her to spill.

"I don't even know how to begin to thank you." Kim's smile was small but her eyes were sincere.

"You want to thank me? Tell me what happened." I poked and prodded her until she finally relented.

"I took your advice. Right before the bell rang he walked in, looking…extremely gorgeous as always. He was sitting towards the front, his back was turned to me and when all the girls scooted closer I almost backed down. But I just remembered what you said. I didn't want to be the idiot in the back, relating to Taylor Swift songs. When I walked up to him, the girls were practically hissing at me. It was quite funny actually but I tapped his shoulder and he turned around." Kim took a breath then and I frowned at her melodrama.

"I asked him for a pencil." Kim choked out, burying her face in her hands and I burst into laughter.

After a solid three minutes of laughing and half-hearted threats from Kim's side, I stopped.

"That's great. I mean you've come full circle." I couldn't even laugh anymore, for fear of pissing myself.

"Oh yeah. The eighth grade," She laughed, "Well anywhoo he just stared at me for a full minute, the teacher told him to stop and some girl asked him why he was staring so hard. He said, I kid you not, 'she's beautiful….that's why I'm staring'."

"Awww." I cooed.

"Yeah….it gets worse. He literally started following me around for the rest of the day, asking me questions and complimenting me. Then he asked me to come over. It was like something out of a movie." She sighed, practically liquefying into a puddle.

I gave her a feeble congratulations. There was still a big hole in her story, why had he noticed her now? I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt but it just seemed so suspicious how he had taken to her so quickly. What if this was all some big joke to him? I couldn't help but feel worried for her, Kim and I weren't very close but I knew she'd be crushed if this was all some big bet or hoax. As soon as she was out of my car though, my thoughts inevitably drifted back to my conversation with Paul.

He was so frustratingly cryptic. Why couldn't he just tell me the truth? What did he mean 'you don't want that'? What did he mean when he said 'if everything goes my way….' and 'there are a lot of people rooting for the other team'? Why the fuck was he so adamant on knowing who messed me up? Last time I checked he would have been ecstatic at my injuries. The places where his lips brushed were still tingling and I chided myself. I couldn't react like this to him, these feelings were unmistakably attraction. And I refused to be attracted to such a brute. I wanted to bang my head against the steering wheel, repeatedly. But my low threshold for pain kept me from doing that. So I killed the engine and went inside the house. Aunt Debra was still holed up in her office so I heated up the plate of food Emily had forced on me and put it next to her. She gave me a distracted thanks and I left her room to get ready for bed.

I stripped out of my clothes quickly before picking out matching batman boxers and tank top for bed. I unbraided my hair, brushed my teeth and washed my face. Today had been a_ really_ long_ really_ weird day and I decided this little town was far too enigmatic for its own good. It seemed like everywhere I turned, there were dirty little secrets just begging to be dug up. I could just leave it alone. Orrr I could have a little fun in the 727 days I had left in this shithole.

I plowed through my crap for a notebook and permanent marker. Figuring things out was much more fun than being a snarky fun sucker. So I labeled the notebook 'Dirty Little Secrets' and set to writing down everything that had even the slightest reek of fish in Forks and the surrounding area. First I started with Cullens:

**Edward Cullen- creepy, super pale, golden eyes, weirdly attractive, boyfriend of Bella Swan, always laughing and smiling at himself, possible schizophrenic? **

**Alice Cullen- creepy, super pale, golden eyes, weirdly attractive, girlfriend of Jasper Hale, always spacing out, possible psychotic tendencies? **

**Rosalie Hale- creepy, super pale, golden eyes, weirdly attractive, girlfriend of Emmett Cullen, **_**hates **_**me/everyone? **

**Emmett Cullen- creepy, super pale, golden eyes, weirdly attractive, boyfriend of Rosalie Hale, anabolic steroids? **

**Jasper Hale- creepy, super pale, golden eyes, weirdly attractive, boyfriend of Alice Cullen, cold hands, freakish strength, occasionally passes out, compulsive liar?**

If you can't tell, there is an obvious pattern. For a bunch of kids that were adopted and had little to no relation to each other, they looked a lot alike. Creepy, super pale, golden eyes and weirdly attractive. Every. Single. One. I made another page for Paul:

**Paul Lahote. **

**Future contender for 'To Catch A Predator'. Rumored to have banged every girl in Port Angeles, Forks and La Push. Twice. No known sexually transmitted diseases…could have AIDs. Very **_**very**_** attractive. Somehow escaped death by mauling of a bear, wolf, wildebeest type animal. Occurred on a night where he and I got into a fight, I promptly kicked him out and when I looked outside I spotted the beast before it took off for the woods. All that was left were scraps of his clothes. When confronted, Paul brushed it off saying the following:**

'**You don't want [the truth]' **

'**If everything goes my way [you won't know the truth]. There are a lot of people rooting for the other team and things rarely go my way.' **

**Also the word 'imprint' is thrown around a lot whenever I am around him. Whatever the glip that means. **

**Freaked out when he saw my shoulder bruises and demanded to know who it was.**

I sighed when I realized that although it helped to have all my thoughts and suspicions written down, I still had no clue what was going on here. But I told myself to be patient. If I went about this the right way, a little nudging here, a little confession there, everything would unravel. In the meantime this notebook was going to be glued to my side like cameras usually are to my necks. I soon drifted off into sleep.

_My mom's face flashed across my mind and a booming laughter from my father that I hadn't heard in years. My mom was rubbing her very pregnant belly, singing gaelic lullabies and folk songs. My dad leaned down, spoke to her stomach, referring to me as a strong boy. My mother throwing her head back in a melodic laughter, telling him she would give birth to girl. A girl named Diana. The scene flashed to my mother, screaming in bed. Blood everywhere, her sheets crimson. My father calling 911, following her as she was carried into the ambulance. Her white nightdress stained, her black hair matted to her extremely pale face. Did she tell them that if it came down to it, my life should be saved over hers? Did they give her an option? The EMT's pulling me out, wrapping me in something that resembled tinfoil. My mother on the brink of death, slipping away slowly. My father holding her hand, pleading for her not to leave. She whispering my name, over and over. The scene changed again to a shadowy figure, methodically setting up a chair, tying the knots to his own noose. The last words on his lips, the name of his beloved._

I wrenched my eyes open, breathing heavily. My sheets were stuck to my skin, as was my hair. That stupid dream, I had it every day after my dad died for a week. But after a while they gave way to darkness. Why did it haunt me again tonight? The clock next to me read 2:23 am and I sighed, realizing I would most likely be up until school started. I swung my legs over my bed and made my way downstairs, in search of a midnight snack. There was pizza in the refrigerator from last night and I heated it up. In the middle of my quest for food, there was a light knock on the door.

Rapist. That was my only thought. It had to be a rapist or murderer. Who else goes around knocking on peoples' doors in the middle of the night? I cautiously looked through the peep hole and when I saw who it was, my heart was fluttering for an entirely different reason. I opened the door quickly.

"Paul." It came out as a breath.

He stood there, in a t-shirt and scruffy jeans, his eyes bloodshot, his hair sticking every which way. Like he had run his hands through it several times.

"Di." His voice sounded strangled.

I stood there stupidly, wondering how the hell he always knew to come by when I was awake. Eventually I moved aside and let him in.

"What're you doing here?" I blurted out eventually.

"I was in the neighborhood. Are you….okay?" He said cautiously. I didn't even know how to answer it. I couldn't tell him I was awake because I had a terrifying nightmare of a day I wasn't even alive to witness.

"You look like hell." I bit my lip, changing the subject.

"Why're you awake?" Paul asked.

His eyes flickered past my chest, to my surprise, and remained glued to my very purple shoulders. I tensed, hoping the mood wouldn't sour.

"I had a nightmare….." I confessed, feeling slightly sheepish, and his face softened.

"What was it about?" Paul gently prodded.

"I dreamt about the day my mom gave birth to me and died, about my dad hanging himself. Morbid shit." I mumbled.

"Come here." He pulled me towards him and this time I didn't resist.

I hugged him back, glad to feel his warmth. He was so warm and his stomach was so _firm_. More importantly, I just felt safe in his arms. Call me corny or cheesy but there was a certain comfort when he held me. That horrible dream was the last thing on my mind. Paul was much taller than me so I had to stand on my tiptoes just to bury my face in his chest. It wasn't exactly comfortable and as if sensing this, he pulled me up so that my tiny feet were firmly on top of his.

"You're still diseased." I whispered. I couldn't help it.

"And you're still a bitch." He spoke into my hair.

We stayed like this for a while, wrapped up against each other until Aunt Debra's thunderous snores stopped and I froze, fearing the worst. How exactly do you explain why a large, teenage boy is in your living room, in the middle of the night, hugging you? Fortunately, I wouldn't have to because she started snoring again. But she had thoroughly ruined the moment. We gently disentangled, still standing close to each other. I folded my arms across my chest, feeling awkward all of a sudden. Why the hell had I hugged him in the first place? It's because of the nightmare…it was a moment of weakness. But the excuse sounded pathetic, even to me.

I turned around and made my way to my bedroom, wanting nothing more than to hug him but confused by this. He followed me quietly and I found myself closing the door after him. He wordlessly climbed into bed with me and I curled up against him, my pizza forgotten.

"Paul?" I said after a while.

"Hmm?"

"I'm not having sex with you." I replied.

"I wasn't expecting you to." He sounded a little offended.

I sat up then and after a minute he did too, grunting his disappointment at having to move. My eyes flitted over his silhouette, trying to make out his face in the inky darkness.

"I don't mean anything by it Paul. It's just I know that's who you are, you flirt, you charm, you sleep around a lot. And I don't have a problem with it." I added quickly.

"My, my. Look at us, becoming fast friends." He said, all sarcasm.

"Fuck off." I smiled.

I threw myself back down on my bed and Paul quickly followed suit. We gravitated towards each other and he wound his arm around my neck, nuzzling against my hair. I laid my head against his chest, listening to his heart beat and tracing circles on his firm abdomen. It was so weird, how comfortable I was with him. He dwarfed me, sure, but I didn't mind nearly as much as I thought I would. He was so warm, his skin felt slightly feverish but this only enticed me. I draped a leg over his and brushed my lips against his chest, letting out an involuntary groan of content. This was just so oddly _perfect_.

"Hey, this is just for tonight right?" His voice tickled my locks.

"Right." I echoed hollowly before falling asleep.

**A/N: **

**Wow, I am just about the best. I mean I updated not too long ago and yet here I am, back again, with a delicious, albeit short, chapter. Here's a quick summary in case anything was confusing:**

**So Jared imprints on Kim, thanks to Di's advice. She will be popping up later on in the story. Obviously nothing came of Di's confrontation. Paul refuses to tell her and their little bonding session on the swingy-chair is interrupted when he smells vampire on her. He basically regresses into an asshole, doesn't talk to her the rest of the night. Diana gets super suspicious, vows to find out the secrets of this batshit town and decides to start cataloguing all the oddities of Forks/La Push. Ends up going to sleep, boring boring boring. But then she has her nightmare, Paul senses her distress while on patrol and stops by. He intended on quickly checking up on her but when she confesses about the contents of the nightmare he ends up giving in to the imprint and they hug, they cuddle a bit more in her bed and he clarifies that this is just a onetime thing. Diana half-heartedly agrees. Fin. **

**Expect an update in a few days. **

_**DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!**_

**Hugsnotdrugs,**

**Lacey**


	7. Chapter 7

**I am so sorry this took so long. My laptop is being quite the little bitch, but no worries. I should have the next chapter up in about a week! **

**Don't forget to check out my profile for the outfits/clothing described. I'll also be putting up a links to pictures of my original characters ie) Di, Aunt Debra, Cameron etc. etc. I just have to get around to it hahaha. xD**

**Enjoy and don't forget to review br0s. (:**

Chapter Seven: I Can't Come Up With A Title So Enjoy Reading This Pointless Sentence

**Paul Joseph Lahote**

I woke up long before she did, my body used to running on only a few hours of sleep. I'd never cuddled with a girl before. It just wasn't…_me_. I was more of a hit and run kind of guy, fucking a girl and leaving it at that. So to wake up with someone in my arms and feel so content, it was definitely a new experience. I lazily ran a finger up and down her arm, watching the goosebumps rise and fall. Diana smelled smell of the vampire had long faded and all that was left was the overwhelming scent of water lilies. My fists clenched involuntarily at the thought of a blood-sucker laying their filthy hands on her. A few deep breaths and calming thoughts later, I went back to watching her. She was so stunning. I could stare at her for days. Her wavy black locks spilled over her pale face and neck before blending into the fabric of my black shirt. Her eyelashes tickled the skin on her high cheekbones, deep breaths taken through her half-open pink lips. Diana's slender fingers were pressed against my abs and I shuddered with pleasure, remembering how she had traced circles on them last night. Nobody had _ever _had that kind of effect on me. _Ever_. I guess it was just another curse of the imprint.

Eventually I nudged her tiny, paperweight frame off and she immediately frowned in her sleep, causing me to stifle a chuckle. I grabbed her pale yellow comforter and placed it over her. It was almost five in the morning and I knew Sam would probably blow a gasket but it had been worth it. I had been on patrol earlier when I felt it. That same jolt of pain I had felt during school yesterday, the same instinct of imprint and danger. Circumstances had prevented me from being able to find her the first time, namely Jacob holding me down and the fact that I couldn't phase during school. I regretted it deeply because when Diana had come by later that night I saw what had caused the pain…. her shoulders were covered in purple bruises ringed with red. And when I smelled the burning, sweet scent of a leech I almost phased right in front of her. But I suppressed the change, long enough to drag Sam outside and yell at him. Thankfully the second time I felt her pain, I was wolfing around. The waves of panic and terror practically crippled me before reverberating to my pack mates. I wanted to go to her but the stupid alpha command wouldn't let me. Sam lifted it as quickly as possible and I immediately took off for her house. The instinct to protect was even more dominating in wolf form. I was shocked to find her awake and perfectly safe but when she told me it was a nightmare that woke her up, the impulse to hold her, which I usually kept at bay, became too much. And she surprised me even more by allowing me to.

I shook my head of these thoughts and walked over to her desk, grabbing a sketch book. After drawing a crude stick figure of us in bed together, I ripped it off and placed it on the still warm, indent of where I had been sleeping. I would have liked to be there when she woke up but I had to go to school today, not to mention the stupid Cullens had set up a meeting to go over the treaty. It would be the perfect opportunity to chew them out for hurting Diana. As a last minute thought, I snatched up the paper and wrote something on the back.

_Stay away from the Cullens._

- _Still Diseased_

After a pointless day of school spent trying to avoid as many girls as possible, I was actually looking forward to meeting with the blood suckers...or should I say beating in one of the blood suckers. Sam had told me last night that Dr. Leech wanted to set up some kind of meeting to go over 'key points' in the treaty. Whatever the hell that meant. Usually when they did this kind of stuff it was because one of us overstepped the boundaries in wolf-form while we were hunting vampires. Usually that person was me, but I'd been patrolling with Sam this entire week and he could testify that I hadn't crossed the border, unless they counted last night. But I had reason to. If I had to guess who would be the topic of discussion tonight I would say it was Seth. He was the youngest, therefore the worst with control. Although Sam had said it took me the longest to get a grip on my phasing while Jacob was the one who could contain his anger the best. Ahh remembering all the times I'd just _barely_ made it into the woods before going wolf was becoming strangely nostalgic.

"Kim is the absolute best." Jared sighed, bringing me out of my thoughts.

I scowled slightly, if he couldn't stop talking about her now then there was no way I would be going on patrol with him later. As if on cue, Jake delivered a smack to his head.

"You need to shut up about her." Jacob warned lightly.

"I'm sorry, I can't help it! She's just so great. She's absolutely funny and she blushes all the time, it's the cutest thing ever." He was practically swooning and Jake slapped him again.

Diana was funny too, really funny actually. And she turned red just as quickly, if not more often. Her drawings were fantastic, almost as beautiful as her. And ughh, she was already racing through my mind.

"I'm surprised you don't talk about Diana more often. I thought you were playing the imprint off, but you seem like you genuinely don't care." Jacob looked at me like I was an alien. Oh, how I wish it was true!

"Maybe she isn't hot enough for him. I mean she certainly isn't his type." Jared laughed.

"His type being DD, a twenty-four inch waist and a _thick_ behind." Quil's hands mimicked an hourglass figure, as if to make his point.

"Di's like a really overcooked noodle. Pasty, zero curves." Jared said wistfully and I had to bite my tongue, _hard_, to keep from speaking out. I felt it healing on contact and the pain distracted me long enough to calm down.

"But she's got enough sass to handle Paul. D'ya hear what she said to Sam?" Embry interjected and they all roared with laughter.

"Shut the hell up." I finally growled, walking ahead of them.

What a stupid thing for Jared to say. Diana was more than 'hot' enough for me. In fact none of the girls I'd ever been with could hold a candle to her. I wouldn't dare use the word 'hot' to describe her. Stunning, breathtaking or mesmerizing were more appropriate. But that didn't mean I was going to take this lying down. I wasn't going to let the imprint take it's course. I wasn't going to let something like this take over my life. The drive home was tense and I knew that the guys were being quiet on my behalf. Why? Because it was hard. It was _so _hard. And I'm not talking about little Pauly, okay? So get your minds out of the gutter!

Fighting the imprint was the hardest thing I'd ever done in my life. It was probably the hardest thing to do in the world. Period implied. As if my life wasn't difficult enough with this whole spirit warrior thing. Ever since the day I'd phased, I'd been fighting a war between myself and the animal inside of me. Over time I'd adjusted to this feeling of being pulled in two different directions. But now there was a third force, the imprint. Diana. And the animal inside of me was on her side, so I had to fight off the beast and her. Torn between constantly wanting her and wanting nothing to do with her. It was stressful. But if anybody could win this battle it was me. Paul Lahote, stubborn.

"Come on idiot." Embry shoved me and I quickly realized we were already home.

Greaattt. I was already getting lost in my thoughts about...her.

"You can like her you know. Nobody cares." Embry said casually.

I grunted in reply. Embry struggled to think of something to say but when he couldn't, he awkwardly patted my back and walked ahead of me. Getting pity from my friends was even better. The icing on the cake? I'd go on patrol later and they'd know I was bluffing, that I really couldn't stop thinking about her. The meeting with the Cullens' had me even more on edge and by the time four o'clock rolled around I had to actively suppress the urge to phase. All I could think about was a blood-sucker putting his hands on _her_. Sam gave Embry, Jared and I a quick talk, the usually shit about being on our best behavior. Jacob wouldn't be coming, as if that wasn't obvious. And there was no way little Seth was coming. We arrived at the border at 3:59 and exactly thirty seconds later the slight stench of vampires lodged itself in my nose and my throat, burning the entire way down. They were here. And they looked peeved. Or at least I like to think they looked peeved, it was hard to tell the emotions on their face (if they could feel) when all I wanted to do was tear them apart. Blondie, the Ape, Moody, Pretty Boy and the Dr. and his wife were all there.

"Sam." Dr. Bloodsucker nodded respectfully and Sam did the same.

"Let's get down to business. Why'd you call this meeting?" Sam said.

I had to breathe slowly and suck in air through my mouth, if I took a good whiff I'd burst into fur and the forever delicate treaty would too.

"Alice has been having visions of a rogue vampire named Victoria. She expects her to arrive in Forks sometime this weekend so we thought we'd give you a heads up. We'll be defending on our territory and you'll be doing the same I assume." The Dr. said and I thanked him silently.

I couldn't stand them at all, but when they told us things like this it was a little harder to hate them. I'd have to make sure _she_ stayed home, safe.

"Also some new information came up concerning Paul and a local girl, Diana. She attends Forks High." The Wife said. I stiffened at this, clenching my fists immediately.

Embry gave me a weary look and I forced myself to calm down, take a deep breath.

"We're familiar with her." Sam grunted.

"Well apparentlyshe caught Paul phasing outside her house, which is in Forks. Our territory." Dr. Cullen said calmly.

"She didn't see anything!" I growled, unable to contain my anger any longer.

"Yes she did." Pretty Boy spoke up.

"Oh really?" I laughed humorlessly.

"Yes really. You put her in danger that night, she's just a human. You could have hurt her." Pretty Boy said.

"You want to talk about putting someone in danger, how come her shoulders are covered in bruises that stink like vamps?" I spat out.

There was absolute silence, I mean if a pin had dropped in that forest we would have heard it. Wolf hearing or not. As the silence stretched and grew, so did my anger. Pretty soon I was seeing red, my body trembling with rage.

"Will somebody put a leash on that mutt!" Blondie sniffed arrogantly, breaking the ice.

"Look. Diana is a special case. She's his imprint." Sam shrugged indifferently.

"Imprint? Paul imprinted?" The Ape started roaring with laughter and after a few moments and a little push from Moody, everyone was cracking a small smile at my expense.

And for the millionth time since that dreadful day in the bathroom, I was the topic of a discussion I had been fighting to avoid.

"I'm done here Sam. I'll come and go wherever the hell I please." I walked away, dreaming of dismembering the Cullen family.

/-*-\

**Diana Dierdre Byrne **

My alarm clock went off exactly as I knew it would. Way too soon. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and the sore muscles of my shoulders. The bruises were still tender but not as much as yesterday. They were no longer purple splotches ringed with violent red. They had faded a bit. I rolled out of bed, shivering as my feet made contact with the cool floor. I labored through the morning routine of taking a shower, brushing my hair and looking presentable. I settled on a pair of dark wash jeans, a striped camel tank top and a forest green cardigan. One of three pairs of shoes in my closet that weren't heels were slipped on my size five and a half feet; they were black and white converse sneakers. My hair was stubbornly wavy so I could do nothing but place a beanie on top of the mostly-black mop. I slipped a necklace over my head, along with a turquoise ring, and applied a dab of pale pink lip stain. I grabbed a baja messenger bag and spent a few minutes dumping all my things out of my old, black bag and into my new bag. That's when I spotted the note.

"Stay away from the Cullens, signed Still Diseased?" I read aloud a few times, feeling more than a bit confused.

At first it jarred me, who the hell wrote me this? Still Diseased? Was that supposed to be some kind of nickname? I fought the urge to scream when I realized what had happened last night. My words echoed in my mind, 'you're still diseased'. And they had really come back to haunt me. The nightmare, Paul coming over, hugging me, falling asleep next to him. The stick-figure of us lying next to each other only mocked my silent cries. I had slipped up, let my guard down. And he'd used it as a chance to grope me.

"That fucking rat!" I startled even myself when I cursed aloud, ripping the still indented covers off my bed in anger.

When I saw him, I'd wring his fat neck and squeeze and squeeze until he stopped kicking. Then I'd eat a large omelette and b-a-n-a-n-a nut muffin. (thank you Gwen Stefani). As the fantasy running through my mind slowly morphed from murderous to ravenous, I realized it was probably time for me to eat breakfast. Revenge could wait. I folded the paper and tucked it away into my bag. After a nutritious, ha-ha, breakfast consisting of Nutella and pretzels, I drove to school in Aunt Debra's hatchback. She was feeling ill that morning and decided to hire a substitute. I drove like mad to school, texting Kim furiously. She promised to give me an update on the Jared situation at school and I intended to keep her to it.

_Are you driving and texting right now? _

The phone almost fell from my hands in surprise and I fumbled for it while trying to keep a firm grasp on the wheel. How the hell did she know me so well after a few days? My head swung around, looking to see if there were any hidden cameras or ways for Kim to be creeping on me.

_Stop texting me or I swear you won't get any details. Please Di? It's for your own good. _

I chucked the phone towards the passenger seat in frustration and swerved from the road a bit. As I pulled into the school parking lot, I was more than a little surprised to see I had managed to make it without a ticket. But unfortunately, my reckless driving almost cost me my car. A douchebag red colored Jeep, way too familiar for my tastes, almost front ended me. The squeal of tires and smell of burnt rubber attracted everyone's attention. My eyes locked with the driver. Emmett Cullen.

"Stay away from the Cullens." I whispered, shivering when I realized my sentiments aligned exactly with Paul's.

I parked as quickly as I could and scampered off into the school, drawing looks from my fellow students. I gave a faint sigh when I realized the Creepy Cullens didn't give chase. I was lucky this time. But I'd have to work hard to avoid them the rest of the day. Calculus was my first class of the day and since I had no Cullens in class with me, it was a-okay. Although listening to Mr. Schaefer was a torture all it's own. And don't get me started on the playful banter Eric was constantly trying to exchange. He wasn't exactly clever, I mean he could be funny sometimes. But it only happened when he wasn't trying. Too bad he was constantly trying. But honestly, it was worth it. Eric was a one hell of a mathematical genius. Needless to say I was more than ecstatic when the bell rang.

"Wait, Diana. D'ya wanna come to the beach with us afterschool? We're having a bonfire." Mike asked nonchalantly.

"Ohh. I'm really sorry, I kind of have plans with a friend of mine." I rubbed my arm awkwardly. Not because it was lie, I did have plans. With Cameron. It was awkward because he was bothering to invite me.

"That's fine." He put in quickly.

"Okay." I smiled, even though the only thing that was running through my mind was 'abort mission, escape, run, teleport, fly, damn it move your feet'.

Eventually I swiveled on my heel and shuffled along, making my way towards my next class. Three words would dictate how I spent the next hour. English. Fudneburgh. Cullen. I ducked in class early, shoving my way past the lingering circles of chattering students. I'd never been more happy to see Rat Boy. I practically clung to him, setting up folders like a force field against the beautiful, prying golden eyes of Hamlet. Or Jasper I guess. I spent the first half of the class hiding behind my cover of _Hamlet _but after the class discussion on the reading from the previous night we were called up to act out the next couple of scenes. Now, a little part of me wanted to feign illness or remind the teacher of Jasper's panic attack but the words wouldn't come.

"Diana?" Mr. Fuddy repeated, causing everyone in class to turn and eye me curiously.

A few of them connected the dots, remembered me as the girl who held their precious Jasper. But most of them seemed annoyed at my fear and reluctance, which they probably mistook for shyness or awkwardness. They would be half right about that. My feet were like lead but I eventually dragged them to the front of the classroom, training my eyes on a spot on the ground. I took a few deep breaths and clenched and unclenched my fists, trying to calm myself down. I was a boiling pot of nerves by the time I took my place next to my partner, Jasper. He stiffened at the brush of the fabric of my shirt against his arm, making it a point to take a few stumbling steps away. I would have felt insulted but the truth was, relief surged through me. Being that close to him was only making it worse.

"Act three scene two, begin!" Mr. Fuddy called out.

I shifted away from the main 'stage' of sorts and read along carefully, listening to Jasper and the other students who played Rosencrantz, Horatio and Lord Polonious interact. Jasper's voice had a smooth, silken quality about it. The lines he said seemed practiced and there was a rather uninterested, bored quality about his tone. By the time my entrance was coming up, my heart was beating like mad and I felt a mixture of Nutella and bile crawl up my throat. This would be good. As if it weren't enough that I was an awkward, jittery mess, I'd be an awkward, jittery mess covered in vomit. Hmm, what wonderful mental images I paint for myself.

"Lady shall I lie in your lap?" Jasper spoke the dreaded cue, his golden orbs directed on mine.

The words caught in my throat and I lost all sense of thought. What the hell was my line? And why did Shakespeare have to write about lying on someone's lap, when not more than a day ago, the very same Cullen I am avoiding now, had his head in my lap? My eyes bore holes into the ground and I made a few noises before sighing and giving up.

"Lady shall I lie in your lap?" He prompted again, urging me to look up.

"No, my lord." The line was whispered but everyone let out a collective mewl of relief.

"I mean, my head upon your lap?" His tone seemed almost playful! Damn it, couldn't he see how sweaty and shaky I was? And he had the gall to be flirtatious.

Relax. He's supposed to be acting this way, after all this is the perverted part of the play. Damn Shakespeare, he'd be rolling over in his grave if he could hear us now. I coached myself silently and jutted my chin out in defiance for the next line.

"Ay, my lord." I was still careful to look into his eyes, staring at a spot just above his left shoulder instead.

He surprised me then, by taking a few swift steps towards me and placing a cold hand upon my chin, jerking my head upwards. I was glued to my spot when Jasper's golden eyes met mine. But I suddenly found his curls to be more interesting. That's right Di, stare at the curls instead. Go ahead and oogle the ceiling if you want! But do not look at him.

"Do you think I meant country matters?" He raised a brow, a hint of a smile upon his lips, as if to show he was still joking.

It caught me off guard and I spent a few seconds collecting myself. Jasper Cullen would not get the best of me.

"I think nothing, my lord." I spat, shoving him away from me and unconsciously putting much needed space between us.

I did not like how close he was. I did not like how easy it came to him. Simply put, I did not like Jasper Cullen.

"That's a fair thought to lie between maids' legs." Jasper spoke softly, wistfully.

"What is, my lord?" I huffed, quickly growing tired of his overdramatized acting.

"Nothing." He smiled, dazzling the entire class in one fell swoop.

"You are merry, my lord." I hissed, despite knowing how out of character this was.

"Who, I?" Jasper portrayed perfect mock innocence, convincing even me for a split second. Just a split second.

"Ay, my lord." I went right back to rolling my eyes.

"O God, your only jig-maker. What should a man do but be merry? For, look you, how cheerfully my mother looks, and my father died within these two hours." His tone was dark then and I swallowed nervously, feeling oddly affected by his moods.

"Nay, 'tis twice two months, my lord." I choked out.

"So long? Nay then, let the devil wear black, for I'll have a suit of sables. O heavens! die two months ago, and not forgotten yet? Then there's hope a great man's memory may outlive his life half a year: but, by'r lady, he must build churches, then; or else shall he suffer not thinking on, with the hobby-horse, whose epitaph is 'For, O, for, O, the hobby-horse is forgot.' Hautboys play. The dumb-show enters. Enter a King and a Queen very lovingly; the Queen embracing him, and he her. She kneels, and makes show of protestation unto him. He takes her up, and declines his head upon her neck: lays him down upon a bank of flowers: she, seeing him asleep, leaves him. Anon comes in a fellow, takes off his crown, kisses it, and pours poison in the King's ears, and exit. The Queen returns; finds the King dead, and makes passionate action. The Poisoner, with some two or three Mutes, comes in again, seeming to lament with her. The dead body is carried away. The Poisoner wooes the Queen with gifts: she seems loath and unwilling awhile, but in the end accepts his love." Jasper launched expertly into his mini-monologue, capturing everyone's attention with ease. The girl's swooned, the guy's swooned, the teacher swooned. And my nerves jolted, transforming quickly from the catty, sarcastic Ophelia to the stupid doe eyed one Shakespeare had originally written about.

"What means this, my lord." I whispered.

"Marry, this miching mellecho; it means mischief." His brow quirked and I accidentally made full eye contact with him.

The seem feeling welled up inside me, rising like the tide. I took a few ragged, shallow breaths, struggling to count the seconds I'd been under his hypnotic stare. Jasper's eyes steeled and I saw him flinch, as if he could feel what was coming next. The sharp ring of a bell interrupted our dreaded staring contest and everyone fluttered with activity. They had all been so busy watching our performance that they didn't notice the clock inch closer and closer to the end of class. The trance was broken and I rammed through everyone to grab my things. Throwing it all to the bottom of my bag and getting the hell out of that room was the longest task of my life. I felt like I couldn't run far enough to get away from those stupid eyes and that stupid attic back in Boston.

The rest of the day went by in a blur. I got off lucky in Chemistry, the teacher called out 'Edward Cullen' and the seat was surprisingly empty. The rest of the day was mostly just me spending a lot of my time, effort and energy to avoid a certain freak family. I quickly had a mental map of all the best nooks, crannies and hideaway spots in the school. I'd managed to stake out a decent spot at lunch that was clear on the other side of the lunchroom from_ them_. I sat by a few art geeks and the like, effectively cutting off ties with my only friend in this school. Bella Swan. Sometimes I saw her craning her neck in the hallway, looking for someone. But I highly doubt it was me. New kids were kind of notorious in a small town like Forks. I did, however, make friends with a freshmen girl named Danielle. I had bumped into her in AP Studio Art, almost ruining her acrylic painting in the process. I apologized profusely but she waved it off, before taking a huge pail of paint and splashing it over her canvas. I let out a terrified squeak but Danielle merely cackled like a mad scientist over a bubbling pot. And afterwards she thanked me. That's right, she _thanked_ me.

"I'm Danielle but if you call me that, I'll have to kick your ass. Danie is just fine." She stuck a hand in my face and I shook it carefully, still a little shocked at her energy.

Because that's what Danie was. A ball of energy and heat packed into a short, black and blue haired, asian frame. Her hands were streaked with paint and chipped nail polish but I took it anyway. Because beggers can't be choosers and because Danie was genuine, even if she was a little crass. I sat by her at lunch and she introduced me to her friends, a group of artists. And although Danie was only a freshmen, she was clearly the ring leader. She called herself a tortured genius but I called her a talented drama queen.

After school was out, I lingered in the school hoping to miss the Cullens. After the crowds thinned out greatly I ventured into the parking lot to find my plan wasn't fatally flawed, like I thought it might be. I drove happily home, chatting with Kim the entire way.

"Okay so you have to tell me everything, and I mean everything." I said sternly.

_"Aww. Have a little faith Di!" _

"I know when you're lying Kim, you're a terrible liar. Almost as bad as me." I grinned.

_"Okay, okay. So I came school, expecting Jared to have recovered from his episode. I mean he had to be drugged right? There was no way that _the _Jared Cameron called me beautiful, sat next to me in History, followed me around the rest of the day and invited me over to his place to hang out." _

"Let me interrupt, don't sell yourself so short and don't forget to mention how he **kissed** you before I dropped you off. Don't think I didn't know that." I scolded childishly.

_"Please, do not tell anyone about that. As if it wasn't enough that all that other crap happened, don't remind me that he actually kissed me!" _Kim groaned loudly into my ear.

"But he did kiss you!" I said slowly, unfazed. I could not, for the life of me, understand why girls were so difficult. Why couldn't they just tell it like it was? Be blunt? Out right?

_"And it was the best kiss I've ever had! Quite possibly the best kiss in the history of all kisses. His lips were so soft and warm, putting just the right amount of pressure and when he rolled his tongue in my-" _

"Okay shut up. That's enough." I blanched, nearly swerving off the lane during a particularly sharp turn.

_"It happened again, he carried my books today, walked me to every class, invited me to lunch and the entire time he couldn't stop smiling. And I couldn't stop laughing. He's so funny Di and just about the most caring person I've ever met." _Kim might as well have melted into a puddle and oozed through to my end of the phone.

"Caring? That's a little hard to believe coming from Mr. Muscles." I snorted.

_"No," _Kim protested vehemently, _"It's true. He really is!" _

She spent the next couple minutes giving me detail after detail of pointless, mushy, cutesy crud about a boy named Jared. When I had listened enough to be considered a good friend and my gag reflux threatened to make itself known all over the carpet of my Aunt's car, I hung up. And even though Kim was easy to talk to and friendly, it still hurt my head to be this friendly with someone. Back home in Boston, friends were made out of convenience and common interests. You didn't really confide in anyone, feelings weren't exactly openly discussed. Nicole, who I considered to be one of my closest friends, had no idea why I'd left, no idea that my dad had killed himself. She just knew I was planning on being here one day and not the next. It was the easiest thing ever. I came home and started on the endless quest every student struggles with. Doing my homework. But I quickly gave up, after sketching a few pages of nothing but Paul and finishing half of a worksheet for Calculus. The worst part? I have an assignment due in AP Studio Art on monday and I've done nothing expect draw Paul. I might as well paste all the sketches of him that I've drawn together and call it a day. Is it bad? That I'm thinking of scum like him when I've got a friendly date with a nice guy like Cameron in, oh just about five minutes?

Shit. I have a date in five minutes. I flew up in a flurry of scarves and shirts, trying desperately to figure out what to wear. But I froze when I realized that this wasn't exactly a date. It was just an outing. As friends. And if I showed up completely overdressed, something I'd managed to do since day 1 here in Forks, it might make things extremely awkward. I needed no help in the awkward department. So I gave up. And just as predicted, the doorbell rang and Cameron stood on the other side dressed in a pair of jeans, converse and parka. I had kept the same outfit, green cardigan and all, slipping into a parka last minute.

"Bye Aunt Debra!" I waved.

"Curfew at 1:00 am. Please. I hate to be that parent." She sighed dramatically and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

We walked out to Cameron's car and I was pleasantly surprised to find it hot. I burrowed further into the seats and let out a mewl of content, barely hearing his chuckle. I couldn't help it. I was a sucker for warm environments, something about the hazy, lazy feel of a hot day put me to sleep. A heatwave in Boston was the equivalent of knocking back Nyquil for three days straight. I would be practically glued to my bed in the summer, doing nothing until the entire apartment was cooled to 65 degrees. When I explained this to Cameron he almost killed us while driving.

"You are the weirdest person I've ever met!" He burst into another round of laughter and I twitched, still holding onto the seat for dear life.

Call me crazy but I wasn't exactly happy that my almost death was to be a product of his laughter. After Cameron fiddled with the radio a bit, dissatisfied that nothing of his tastes was on, I shyly pulled out my MP3 player. Hopefully he wouldn't hate my music preferences too much.

"Perfect I have an adapter in the glove compartment somewhere. It's from before I trashed my iPod." He explained.

I hesitated before plugging it in and playing my favorite song Set Fire To The Rain.

"Ahh you can never go wrong with Adele!" He shot me a smile and I felt my mood lifting.

We actually spent a good chunk of the car ride singing along to her tortured, soulful melodies. The rest we spent asking pretty intense "get-to-know-you" questions. Cameron had been born and raised here in La Push, he had an older sister who died in a car accident and his dad was never really around. They have a really unstable relationship on account of his dads many addictions. Cameron hopes that his father can come to his graduation sober. His mother is what he described as "supermom". She raised him and his sister on a secretaries paycheck and somehow managed to be around for all their soccer games and dance recitals. But ever since his sisters death, she's been dealing with depression. He hopes she will be fine by the time he goes off to college.

I felt somewhat obligated to answer his questions, although uncomfortable. For once in my life, I didn't like how curt my answers were. I found myself wishing for the ability to give dodgy, answers that didn't automatically reveal everything.

"So why'd you move in with your Aunt?" He smiled.

"My dad killed himself and since my mom was already dead, it was either Aunt Debra or becoming a ward of the state." He wasn't smiling anymore.

"Oh." His voice cracked. 'Oh' is right. As in 'oh my god why do you do this to yourself Di'.

"It's okay, I mean it's happened and you can't change what's already happened so let's just change the subject instead." I mumbled, tugging on a loose thread on his upholstery.

"Alright. What do you think of Italian food?" Cameron smiled at me.

"Love it." I answered automatically.

"Good. I was thinking we could grab a bite to eat after the movie. If your stomach can handle it after the guts and gore of Requiem of course." He teased.

I nodded hesitantly. I mean, did this count as a date? Or was it still just a friendly outing? Cause it was starting to suspiciously sound like a movie and dinner. And, as every girl knows, movie and a dinner on a friday night is the most cliched kind of date there is. Even Cameron had to know this. When I realized we had lapsed into another awkward silence, I said the first thing that came to mind.

"So why d'ya think they say that? 'Grab a bite'. How exactly would you do that?" I blurted.

He burst into another fit of laughter and the car lurched to the left, towards oncoming traffic.

"Jesus, Cameron! Watch the goddamn wheel!" I screamed, holding on to the dashboard.

We swerved to the right and he finally straightened out, still laughing occasionally. That was it, I decided. I would never get in the same car as Cameron again unless I was at the wheel. As much as I wanted to voice this decision, I stopped myself, scared that third time would be the charm and we would actually get into a car accident. A few minutes later, we pulled into the movie theater and bought our respective tickets.

"You sure you want to go dutch?" He raised a brow.

"If this is your way of buying me off for those two almost-accidents, no way." I rolled my eyes and paid for my extra buttery, extra large popcorn bucket, pack of sourpatch kids and large coke.

"Shouldn't you save your appetite for dinner?" Another raised brow.

"I'll have plenty of room." I waved off his grunt of disbelief and found two seats for us in the middle, steering clear of the dark shadowy corners reserved for groping couples.

Di, you maniacal fiend. You've paid for your ticket, food and flagged down the most platonic seating section in the theater. If this doesn't scream friends...I will.

"Perfect, the movie's going to start soon. I hate those stupid previews." I said gleefully.

The lights dimmed and the opening scene started. And I can happily say that from that moment to the credits, I was shit myself terrified. Half my popcorn ended up on the floor because of how many times I jumped and the sour patch kids were devoured quickly, just so I wouldn't grind my teeth.

"That was so amazing!" I burst into another peal of nervous laughter, sucking down the rest of my soda.

"You're absolutely insane. I've never seen anyone laugh through an entire zombie movie." Cameron's laughter joined mine.

"I can't help it. That's how I get when I'm scared." I protested.

"Alright, we can check out that photography place first then grab a bite to eat. Walk off the jitters." He smiled and I nodded.

We walked a few blocks in the opposite direction of the movie theater, awkwardly people watching. Eventually we stopped in front of a dark, sleepy looking store. I opened the door, flinching at the sound of the bell. So maybe I was still a little jumpy from the movie.

"Hello?" Cameron bellowed and we heard someone holler in reply.

"How can I help you?" A man approaches us, holding an ancient camera with care.

"Hi, my name is Di." I shook his hand avidly.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Lou Horan." He smiled.

I launched into a description of my current situation and then proceeded to beg for permission to use his darkroom.

"It would be once a week, at the most, and I'd pay for the chemicals and photography paper. I'd even help around the store, free of charge. Well I guess not, since the charge would be me using your darkroom. Sorry I'm rambling, it's just that this is really important to me." I bit my lip nervously.

"Alright, that sounds like a fair deal to me. You work in exchange for developing your own photos. Of course, the chemicals and photography paper would be free of charge. Well I guess not, since the charge would be you working for me." Lou teasingly stroked his chin thoughtfully before sticking his hand out to make it official.

"Seriously? Thank you so much Mr. Horan!" I squealed, shaking his hand.

We spent the next couple of minutes chatting cameras and exchanging information. I gave him Aunt Debra's work number and cell phone in case of an emergency and he promised to get a name tag and stock up on different chemicals.

"So I'll see you next Thursday?" Lou reaffirmed and I nodded enthusiastically.

As we were walking out of the store, I sighed in absolute bliss. Forks would be slightly more tolerable now.

"Now we eat." I practically skipped, dragging Cameron around by the crook of his arm.

I didn't care if he got the wrong idea. I was fucking ecstatic.

"Di, slow down. You're gonna rip my arm out of its socket."

"La, la, la. I don't care."

"You have no idea where the hell the restaurant is!"

"Yes I do, I can sense Italian food. It's in my blood."

"I thought you said you were Irish?"

"Oh. Yeah." I stopped abruptly, causing Cameron to almost fall on his face.

Luckily the restaurant wasn't too far off from where I had been pulling us along and there was a steady flood of people walking in the same direction as us. Must have been a popular place. We opened the glass doors and almost slammed into a couple.

"Sorry." I said immediately, turning a bright red.

"How. . . .serendipitous. It's that girl." I heard a familiar voice sneer.

Oh crudbuckets. I looked up and saw the ginger locks pulled into a high ponytail and green eyes. The busty, bodacious Corbin was dangling off the arm of none other than Paul Lahote. Ughh. The Fates really hate me.

"Hello. Nice to see you again." I said curtly nodding.

"Di, I haven't seen you in forever." Paul's was just teasing but I blushed anyway.

"Shut up." I mumbled, averting my eyes.

"Lahote?" Cameron finally piped up and I saw Paul's eyes narrow considerably.

"I assume you all know each other. Corbin, Paul and Cameron?" I said.

"Yes." Corbin nodded at him respectfully and Cameron saluted to her.

Paul was still glaring and Corbin eventually elbowed him. Painfully.

"What the hell was that for?" He growled, rubbing his chest.

"For being rude." Corbin hissed and I almost laughed. Trouble in paradise much?

"So why're you guys here? _Together_?" Paul ignored her easily.

"Well we just came back from a movie. . ." Cameron said casually.

"Really? We saw Friends With Benefits earlier." Corbin smiled at Paul, grabbing his bicep and squeezing in what seemed to be a flirtatious manner.

"Ew." I wrinkled my nose.

Oops. Now everyone is looking at me. I bit my lip and tried to stop the red from coming on to my face. I'm such a dweeb.

"We saw Requiem. It was amazing." Cameron grinned.

Paul's phone started ringing and he stopped glaring long enough to answer it. I kicked the cement repeatedly and lazily scratched my arm. This wasn't awkward was it? I mean, so what if Corbin kind of hated me? So what if we were standing outside some italian restaurant, tweedling our thumbs waiting for Paul? I looked up to see him, roaring into the phone. I suddenly wished for the ability to lipread. I didn't even stop to think why the hell I so desperately wanted to know what had burrowed up Paul Lahote's ass and died. He came storming back towards us and for the first few minutes of him speaking, all my mind did was replace the words with roars.

"Raawwwr! Rawr, raawrarawrarwawwwwrrrr!" I struggled to stop from laughing. Paul was so mad, it was comical.

"What're you laughing it? Did you hear what I just said?" Paul asked, looking puzzled. I blinked at him, still trying to get rid of the roars.

"You and I have to go. Now." Paul began walking backwards to his car.

"What do you mean?" Cameron scoffed, grabbing my arm and tugging me closer to him.

"Get your hands off her." Paul stopped and charged towards him.

"Whoa. Whoa. Calm down." I stood protectively in front of a very calm Cameron.

"Look we've got to go now. It's not...safe here. Anymore." He struggled to explain.

"What're you going on about?" I rolled my eyes.

"None of that matters. Just please. Come on." Paul held his hand out to me, shifting his weight from one foot to another.

"Let's go Di, we've got a plate of pasta with our name on it. Psycho." Cameron shook his head, mumbling the last part.

He was puling me inside towards the restaurant but I didn't want to leave.

"Hey, come on Paul." Corbin laced her small fingers through his and tried to lead him away.

I stood there for a long time, just staring at him. Trying to figure out what the hell was going through his mind, he looked so desperate. Something in my gut was telling me to take his hand.

"Is this about that night? The truth?" I whispered.

"Yes."

And just like that, I grabbed his hand. Cameron and Corbin's jaws remained unhinged.

/-*-\

**Paul Joseph Lahote**

Words cannot begin to describe how happy I was. Happy that Diana hadn't made it difficult. Happy that she had trusted me. Happy to have her small hand in mine. I squeezed it tightly and she returned the gesture, following me calmly to my truck, ignoring that tool Cameron's shouts and Corbin's stricken expression. I drew strength from her, something she probably didn't know.

I sped down the freeway, Di's hand still in mine. Her face pressed against the cool glass of the window, watching the lights blur by and smelling the salt of the ocean.

And all I could smell, was the sickly sweet smell of vampire.

**a.n.**

**Ending with a tweeeessstt! Haha, unless you saw that coming. Okay, longer chapter (I think) to make up for the delayed update. As I stated before, my laptop is so screwed. I've had to type everything, whether it be homework or the continuing Di/Paul Saga, on the library computers. Mostly I've been typing up homework, essays, papers etc. **

**I'll be getting a new laptop soon. Hopefully. Until then, enjoy the slower but longer updates. **

**Don't forget to check out outfits mentioned etc. in my bio. I use Polyvore because it's really fun and addicting. (; **

**I love you all. Thank you to those who reviewed! Chapter eight should be up next week. (: **

**xoxo **

**Lacey. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Forgive me friends, for I have sinned. Five months is too long.**

**I'm really sorry but here you go. **

Chapter Eight: Little Red

**Diana Diedre Byrne**

At first, I didn't know where Paul was taking me and I didn't care. I just wanted to get there fast so he could spill. I had never stopped replaying that nights events and the only thing I worried about now was how the hell I was going to remember his explanation, word for word. I had to write it all on the notebook, recording everything was key. Otherwise I could never piece it all together. The rain was pounding steadily now and the mood in the car was tense.

"Paul, what's going on?" I finally spoke.

"Things. A lot. I-I don't know Di. I can't really tell you because it's not safe." He mumbled.

"What the hell does that even mean, not safe?"

"It means not safe."

"Just tell me what the hell's going on!" I shouted.

Silence.

"I can't."

I wrenched my hand out of his and groaned when I realized there was no escaping this until we actually got to Forks. I'd be trapped in this car with him for the next twenty minutes. Paul's jaw clenched and he tightened his grip on the steering wheel. I sat on my hands to keep from punching him. After the longest twenty minutes of my life he pulled into the muddy driveway of Emily's house and I sprung out of the car. The rain had me soaked in a second but I didn't care.

"Will you just hold on a second Di?" Paul called out, jogging after me.

His long legs caught up to me before I could reach the steps to the house and he twirled me around to face him with ease. For a full minute he stood there and just stared at me.

"Are you going to tell me?" I asked.

Silence.

"I should've known better. I should've just stuck behind with Cameron." I grumbled, rolling my eyes.

"Listen Di, if I could..."

"Save it for someone who cares!" I screamed, suddenly annoyed at his gall. How dare he stand there and make it seem like this somehow wasn't his fault?

Paul and I were literally face to face, my neck craned and his shoulders hunched, the rain dripping off his nose and onto my head, his dark eyes pleading.

"Believe me, if I could tell you, I would."

"No you wouldn't, you're a selfish, fat headed brute." My laughter was bitter and mocking.

"This is hard for me too Di." Paul said softly.

Our showdown was interrupted by a sound that caused me to instinctively shift closer towards Paul and grip his t-shirt tightly. My head whipped towards the noise and I was suddenly aware of my breathing. It was a howl.

"A wolf." I whispered.

The front door flew open and I saw Emily and Seth shouting something drowned out by the rumble of thunder.

"Seth, get her inside." Paul bellowed.

"What do you mean?" I asked nervously.

He paused and looked down for a second before leaning down and skimming his lips across my cheek.

"I'll be right back. Go with Seth."

I'd been too preoccupied with what he said to even notice that he had just kissed me. Where the fuck was he going in this weather? Paul flung his shirt over his head in one smooth motion and jogged towards the woods, right where the howl had come from.

"Wait, wait where the hell are you going? Paul. Paul! What the fuck, PAUL!" I walked after him but Seth was restraining me.

"We gotta go this way, come on Di."

"Let go of me! Where's he going? Paul! Get back here, you're not funny. This isn't funny! _Paul_!" Seth dragged me back easily even though I was struggling with all my might. My eyes were straining to see through the shadowy woods he had just walked into.

"Honey, calm down." Emily was next to me now but all I could see was him walking away.

Another clap of thunder and they finally wrestled me inside and closed the door. My fists clenched and unclenched. I threw my bag down and ran into the kitchen looking for a phone, when I couldn't find one in there I walked back into the living room and continued my search.

"What're you doing? Besides dripping on the hardwood I mean." Seth laughed, puzzled.

"Calling the police." I replied simply.

"Relax you spaz. He'll be fine, jesus." He sighed, rolling his shoulders.

"Seth be quiet." Emily chided.

"Are you stupid? He just waltzed into a forest, in the middle of a hurricane, with practically no clothes, no equipment not to mention the fact that there are wolves out there! And you're calling me a spaz? What kind of friend are you?" I spat.

"Why do you even care? Don't you hate Paul?" Seth rolled his eyes.

He might as well have slapped me, I bit my lip and looked away. It was true. He was right.

"Because...look. It doesn't matter." I floundered.

"Sit down, relax. He'll be fine hun." Emily came over and squeezed my shoulder in a comforting way but I jumped away in fear.

My nerves were on fire and I could only think about the fact that he had just marched outside, to his death, without telling me anything. And I was just standing here, blinking, like the idiot I was.

So I ran.

I ran into the forest, into the rain and thunder, the lightning, the howls and dark. But it wasn't for long, because Seth was hot on my heels.

"Go and get her back. But don't you dare phase!"

"Damn it, Di! Diana!"

I barely heard them over the sound of my breathing, the pounding of my own blood and the wet leaves and bushes smacking into me. Faster, faster, I pushed myself not wanting to be caught and dragged back. But pretty soon it got so dark, I couldn't even see my hand. I eventually tripped over a root and fell to my knees, hard. The distant rumble of thunder and onslaught of rain finally caught up to me and a new sensation was creeping over me. Fear. It was freezing, it was dark, it was storming and I had no idea where I was. I tried to listen for Seth's footsteps but I couldn't hear anything. I stood up, slowly, and carefully walked in the opposite direction of where I came.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid." I groan, wringing out the bottom of my shirt.

What the hell was I thinking? That I would somehow magically run into Paul? I was in the middle of the woods, no cellphone, no bag, nothing but the clothes on my back and, after hearing that howl earlier, there was no doubt in my mind that there was a wolf out here with me. I wracked my brain trying to remember the tips Debra gave me for if I ever got lost.

"Stay in one place." I smiled, finally remembering.

So I sat. Right where I was. Right on the ground. Luckily, I didn't have to sit for long because after a while the rain let up. And a few minutes later it stopped all together. My clothes were soaked and I was shivering but at least the storm was over.

"Must've been one of those freak twenty minute storms. Stupid Forks." I mumbled, standing up.

The sky was unbelievably clear, for once, but I knew that the chances of another storm brewing up within the hour were very high. And I wasn't going to survive another. Not with how badly I was shivering. If my smells and whining didn't attract predators, my teeth clacking would. The forest was slowly coming to life and after a few minutes the entire place was buzzing with activity. Nocturnal birds were hooting and flapping about everywhere. Critters were running around the forest floor and the moon was shining brightly. I leaned against the bark and felt my eyelids growing heavily but I forced myself to stay awake. Although I no longer felt the bone chilling cold of the breeze, my thoughts were becoming disoriented but I tightened my hold on my central organs and burrowed into myself. Hypothermia wouldn't take me.

"Jimmy crack corn and I don't care, jimmy crack corn and I don't care, Jimmy crack corn and I don't care..." I sang silently, trying to stay awake.

Then everything fell silent. The kind of eery silence that only happens in movies. No more hoots or flaps. Nothing.

"My trouble's gone away." A woman's voice finished the line for me.

It took me a while to realize I wasn't by myself anymore. The hope of a rescue had my blood rushing again and I sat up with great difficulty.

"What are you doing out in the woods all alone, little girl?" I looked up to see a ridiculously beautiful woman.

Her skin was as pale as the moonlight and shined just as brightly, her bright red corkscrew curls fell down to her bust and she was wearing street clothes. But a rescue is a rescue and beggars can't be choosers.

"I...g-g-g-ot lost." I struggled. My tongue felt heavy and my lips were cold and alien, not my own.

"Dangerous." Her eyes flashed.

"You...you...c-can help m-m-me?" I asked slowly. But she looked murderous.

The stranger pulled me up by my collar and held me, suspended, against the tree. Was that even possible?

"I perfer my blood bags warm but you'll do. I need a little boost to outrun those wolves and the Cullens." She murmured, tracing a very sharp finger nail down my neck. A trail of blood followed and I felt the warmth of it trickle down my shirt. It felt good.

But then a branch snapped and we both followed the source of the sound. All I saw behind some bushes were a pair of large, and I mean ridiculously large, yellow eyes. They were narrowed to slits and glow in the dark like the star stickers on my ceiling.

"Uh oh." She frowned playfully.

Then come the thunderous growls, and I mean more than one. As in there were several of those things out there. I couldn't tell what it was but they were shadowy and big. And suddenly I wasn't so cold anymore. In fact I felt...warm? It's your mind tricking you the hypothermia must be really kicking in, I tried to tell myself. But even the sleep had left my body.

"Aww you guys ruin all the fun. I haven't even had a taste yet." She was licking her lips disturbingly.

A very loud growl tore through the air and she slowly set me down.

"Must be you're lucky night little one. I've got to run." The stranger smiled at me sweetly before tossing me to the side.

I crumpled, having no strength or energy left. From the forest floor I saw a blur of movement and red before those things in the bushes shot out after her. I felt the ground shaking and saw a few paws, disproving my original theory of a stampede.

Paws. It suddenly clicked. All I could think before I fell into the arms of sleep was that Little Red Riding Hood, as I'd dubbed the ginger, was in for a lot more than just one wolf.

**/-*-\**

**Paul Lahote**

The pack tore off after the leech but I stayed behind, phasing back as quick as possible. I hunted in bush after bush, my thoughts scattered and my aim off. All I saw was Di, strewn across the forest floor. I tugged on a pair of dirty shorts and almost fell on my face running back to her. Diana, my sarcastic pain in the butt, was barely alive. Seeing her little blue lips and stiff hair brought on a whole new meaning to the phrase hanging on by a thread. I carefully picked her up, pressing her cold frame to mine. Her heart beat was rapid one minute and sluggish the next and I tried to ignore it but I knew what it meant. She was pretty deep into the second phase of hypothermia.

Why was she in the woods? She wasn't _that_ stupid. I gave Seth one little responsibility, for Christ's sake the girl wasn't more than one hundred and ten pounds! How much trouble could she cause? And what about Emily? Had she just waved Di off? 'Ok have a nice little stroll in this lethal storm'?

The blame kept shifting and so did my thoughts but I forced myself to breathe and calm down.

I had to be. For her.

**/-*-\**

**Diana Dierdre Byrne**

Tingly toes and fingers, that's what woke me up. And for a minute I just lay there, staring at the neon stars on my ceiling. Every time I blinked I saw huge neon yellow eyes that matched. _Must've been some dream_, I thought silently. I sat up, slowly. My entire body felt tense for some reason, as if I might be running a marathon any second now. A sneeze or seven later, I realized I had some cold. Sniffling and shuffling my way to the bathroom was difficult, but the hot water melted the aches and my stuffy nose away. A t-shirt and soft cotton shorts were donned and I deftly combed through my hair, towel drying it with ease. The mirror wasn't very kind, but it was true. I looked haggard. The skin around my arm was dotted with bruises and my neck sported a scab.

"Weird." I ran a finger down my neck, maybe I had scratched myself in my sleep.

I shrugged and tip toed downstairs, it had taken me a second to realize it was the middle of the night. Aunt Debra's snores were better than my internal clock. But the container of chicken noodle soup on the dining room table was greatly appreciated and I didn't even stop to read the post it note. It was empty in a second along with a cup of orange juice. My stomach gurgled in approval and my movements were sluggish as I walked back towards the note.

_Call me as soon as you finish this. _

_Paul_

I froze when I read it. Anger, that's the first thing that came to mind. After everything that had happened. . . . one bowl of chicken noodle soup and a note. I had dialed the wrong number at first, my hands were shaking I was so pissed.

"Hello?" Came a groggy voice.

"Lahote. You've got five minutes." I snapped.

"I'll be there in three." Dial tone.

Sixty five seconds later I heard a light tapping on the door. Three minutes my ass, if he thinks showing up two minutes early is earning him any brownie points he's just plain stupid. I grabbed my olive green parka and a pair of boots. Couldn't wake up Debra with all the yelling I had planned.

"Di." I opened the door to very rumpled Paul.

His hair was mussed, a leather jacket that was half-assedly zipped to reveal a wife beater, a pair of sweat pants with motorcycle boots tugged on top of them.

I shoved him out of the way, keeping my face dead straight, and closed the door behind us. I sat on the steps of the house, snuggling deeper into my coat.

"I'm guessing you remember everything?" Paul's voice was husky with sleep and I had to tear my eyes off his stubble and chocolate colored eyes when he sat next to me.

I choose to nod at him.

"And now you're . . . . . " He sighs, "Angry?"

I nod again.

"Ok, this isn't going to work if you just sit there and nod, sunshine. Why're you mad?" He casually extended his long legs and leaned back.

"Where to start, where to start?" I tapped my chin and tried to ignore Paul's chuckles.

"Maybe it started when you made ditch me Cameron."

"Oh please, that guy's a tool and you know it. I did you a favor." He rolled his eyes and I narrowed mine.

"It wasn't any of your goddamn business Paul. But to tell you the truth, I could've forgiven you then. But then you had to lead me on. 'It's not safe and I can't tell you why'?" I mocked his deep voice.

"It was true."

"_It was bullshit_!" I shouted back.

"And I fell for it. Even then, even then Paul, I could've forgiven you. But then you had to walk out there." My voice cracked and furiously wiped away a tear.

I couldn't think straight, why was I crying? All I could feel was emotion. Raw emotion. What if Paul had died out there?

"Hey." He said softly, sitting up and enveloping me in a hug.

I sat stiffly, still trying to maintain composure. It didn't help that Paul was unusually warm or that he smelled good, syrupy and sweet like pine. Or that his fingers traced circles on my back, causing a current that reciprocated through the rest of my body. It sure as hell didn't help that his face was buried in my neck and I don't even have to describe what that was doing to me physically. Needless to say, I was hugging him back very quickly.

"Don't do that, okay? Don't cry." He sounded strained.

I just nodded and held him tighter, breathing in and out deeply. When I was a little more calm, I slowly let my arms fall to my side and awkwardly coughed, scooting away from him.

"Th-that never happened." I tried to sound forceful but the stuttering and blushing took away from the message.

"You're an idiot." Paul shook his head slowly.

"Yeah? You too." I cracked a small smile.

A howl came, but it was distant and faint. Barely there. Even though I knew the thing it came from was miles away from here, an entire forest basically, I was still a little unsettled.

"I've got to go." Paul stood up abruptly and I slowly followed suit.

"So. . . . . I guess I'll see you when I see you?" I chewed on the inside of my cheek nervously.

"Yeah." He smiled, turning around and whistling all the way to his motorcycle.

He walked it out of the driveway and didn't start it until he was part way down the street, reminding me that I was supposed to be asleep. Good boy, I laughed silently, dancing back into the house.

**/-*-\**

"Late, late, late!" I shrieked, tripping over a pair of boots and scrambling to my closet.

I shimmied into a pair of black skinny jeans and a sheer top before slipping on a pair of black and nude heels. My favorite olive green parka and the shoulder bag I had yet to empty out were quickly grabbed. A croissant and bottle of water were worth the few seconds of delay. Aunt Debra honked the horn a couple of times and I almost fell on my face flying down the steps.

"Come on, come on. I still gotta drop you off and make it to class on time." She was hitting eighty miles an hour in no time at all.

I buckled up and took a big bite of the flaky, crescent shaped, heaven sent bread. Okay, so I get a little dramatic when I'm hungry. But it really hit the spot. We got to Forks High School in record time and I barely had time to open my mouth and say goodbye to Debra before she drove away, almost hitting a few kids on her way. I shrugged and walked into the school.

"Hey baby cakes." I heard someone whisper behind me, causing me to scream.

"You should've seen your face!" Danie cackled and I took a few deep breaths.

"Lighten up." She poked my face and proceeded to tug me down the hallway, her bracelets jingling.

I forgot how. . . . lively she was in the morning. My body was still achy and I still had the sniffles.

"So where were you these past two days?" Danie narrowed her eyes at me.

"Sick." I gave her two weak coughs and she actually wrinkled her little nose.

"Oh. Well in that case, feel better. Hope you got that art project done, it was due yesterday." She looked in pain almost and I let out a surprised laugh when I realized that she was trying to seem concerned.

"Concern isn't a good look for you Danie." I explained myself.

"You try and you try to be there for someone, to comfort them and to hold them, to love and to cherish till high school do you part and what do you get? Ridicule, laughter!" She launched into her tirade causing my giggles to turn into full blown laughter.

"Fine! I'll take my friendship elsewhere!" She harrumphed and walked away just as the final bell rang.

Whoops. Looks like I really _am_ late.

**/-*-\**

I slept through most of my classes, the homework was piling up and I realized that I was the topic of interest today. Apparently the Cullen's had decided to take a few days off the same time I got sick but no matter how I explained it, nobody believed me when I said it was a coincidence. Even Danie doubted me. Mr. Fuddy let me spend the entire class catching up on readings, so some other shmuck got the part of Ophelia. It didn't stop prying golden eyes from hunting me down.

"Miss Diana." Jasper's voice scared me half to death.

"Holy mother of balls!" I exclaimed, somehow managing to toss my book in the air. But he caught it with ease.

"I'm sorry I. . . didn't mean to frighten you." His eyes seemed darker in the fluorescent lights but unmistakably gold.

Well frighten you did.

"How're you feeling?"

Hmm. . . how do I tell him I want him to leave because his presence makes me sweat in unseen places with terror? I sat on my hands to stop the shaking, Christ there was just something so unsettling about him. He just stood there, smiling at me with those unnatural eyes while I scowled to hide my fear. After a few tense seconds my breathing started to slow and my thoughts were hazy and sluggish. Calm. That's the only word that came to mind. But my hands were still shaking and I could feel my arm hairs prickling. It's like my mind was saying relax but my body was screaming danger. I tried to get up and move but I was stuck in place. Paralyzed. Something was very, _very _wrong and the only other person within a fifty foot radius of me was him.

"Wh-What're you d-doing? Stop that!" I protested hoarsely.

Jasper's brow furrowed and I snapped back to my senses, the fuzz in my mind cleared.

"What. . . . what. . . how." I slowly scooted away from him until my back hit a wall of lockers.

"I said how're you feeling?" He repeated coolly, taking a step towards me and offering a hand. As if that didn't just happen.

"Stay the hell away from me." I snapped, scrambling onto my feet and grabbing my bag.

"Hey, hey! Wait a second, just wait." Jasper called out to me but I was already running down the hall.

I didn't stop. Not until I was safely locked in a stall inside an abandoned bathroom, far away from him. I dropped my bag carelessly and kicked the lid on the toilet down before taking a seat and burying my face between my knees. I needed to catch my breath and sort out my thoughts. However after a few minutes it seemed the gasping and tears wouldn't stop and I had to get out of the stall and pace around. All I could say was oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god. Over and over again. A splash of cold water to my face didn't help, neither did squeezing my eyes shut. Every time I blinked I saw red and gold, pale and cold. My mind was going haywire, replaying snippets of what had just happened now and what had happened last night. I just sat there, holding my head in my hands, reliving it all. The wolves, the running, the woman with the firey hair. My neck, I slapped a hand to it and sure enough the scabs were still there. What had she said, _blood bags_? Jasper's eyes and his voice, wanting to scream and sprint but not being able to. There was only one explanation.

"Oh god." I whimpered, slamming my head repeatedly against the tile.

Unnatural. Creepy. Weird. Suspicious. Abnormal. Odd. These were all words I had used to describe the Cullen family, when what I should have used instead was 'not human'. As this fact settled in I heard footsteps pounding down the corridor and the door to the bathroom slammed open. Long brown hair, pale skin, brown eyes.

"Bella?" I looked up at her, not bothering to move aside the hair covering my red eyes and sticking to my tear stained cheeks.

"She knows." I saw someone behind her. Edward.

And his beautiful face and his golden eyes that looked just like Jaspers. I shook my head violently, until I could see stars. I'd rather be unconscious than be in a bathroom with. . . _that_.

"Get. Away. From her." Paul's large figure was looming above my face now and at first I thought it was just a dream.

"Paul, we're not going to hurt her. We just want to help." Bella pleaded with him and I sagged in relief, he really was here.

"You've done enough. Just get out." Silence.

"LEAVE!"

Reluctantly I heard a footstep and then Edward telling Bella to follow him, more footsteps but this time they were receding and I risked opening my eyes. I sighed when I realized it was just Paul and I. Running a hand through my hair, I stood up shakily. If the mirror had been unkind last night it was just down right bitchy now. Explaining a splotchy face was always fun, I guess.

"You ready to go?" Paul asked after a beat.

"Lead the way." I sighed.

**/-*-\**

And that's how I found myself at Paul's house. It was a little weird, I'd always seen him on relatively familiar grounds. La Push High School, Sam's place, hell even in my room. But I'd never been to _his_ house before. It was a little thing, all red and brick like. Cozy and warm. The lawn was well cared for and there were flowers decorating the porch along with a pure white two person swing. Paul fished a key underneath a pot and I stifled a giggle.

"How unexpected." I said before I could stop myself and Paul simple raised a brow at me.

I was even more surprised when I came in, everything was so neat and lived in. From the worn coasters to the cherry wood grandfather clock, even the pictures on the wall. It all seemed so homey. I drifted back towards the pictures, they were all of one little boy. I walked straight up to one and looked at it carefully. His skin was a deep golden tan and his eyes were a bright brown. His eyebrows were raised to a comical level and his ruby red lips were attacking an ice-cream cone. The little boy looked so familiar but I didn't know where I'd seen him. Maybe one of the kids I took pictures of back home looked like him?

"That's me." Paul cleared his throat. Well. That explains that.

Of course I couldn't ever imagine him as anything more than this gigantic oaf who had a strange ability to show up when he wasn't wanted. But, dare I say it, Paul was cute. He had left the living room in favor of the kitchen, making a lot of clanging noises

"What happened?" I wrinkled my nose in mock disgust.

"Hardy-har." Came his sardonic reply and I felt the corners of my mouth twitch.

After a minute or so the idiot came lumbering in with a plate of cookies, two bags of doritos, a large case of cherry coke, two bowls with spoons in his mouth and rocky road ice cream. And for a few minutes all I did was try to throw doritos into his mouth and laugh at all of his baby pictures. It didn't occur to me that he was actually trying to make me feel better. A peculiar thought considering we hated each other's guts, I mean . . . Paul was my mortal enemy right? But the way we were acting right now, it almost seemed like he cared.

"Why're you doing this?" I asked quietly.

"What do you mean?" Paul looked genuinely confused and I felt the words die on my tongue.

"What happened?" I changed the subject quickly.

"I don't know how to tell you." Came his reply.

There was a short silence and I stuffed another cookie into my mouth to keep myself busy.

"I'll answer any question you have truthfully Di, anything. Just tell me what you want to know."

"Ok. Jasper Hale and his adopted siblings, there is more to them than meets the eye. Am I correct in assuming this?" I said slowly.

"Yes."

"Are they human?" I asked tentatively.

"Once they were. Listen Di they're dangerous and you could get hurt-" But I pounced on that piece of information quickly.

"Are there others out there like them?"

"Yes but none around here." He sighed, looking me in the eyes awkwardly.

"That's a lie." I snorted and rolled my eyes at his offended expression.

"Last night this woman was in the woods with me, before I was found. And I'm pretty sure she wasn't human either." I explained, carefully gauging his reaction.

"Ok." Paul seemed oddly stoic.

"Why're you so accepting of this? Shouldn't you be freaking out or attempting to put me in a entail hospital?" I snapped.

"Why're you?"

"Because I have reason to be, I have proof and stuff." I said unconvincingly.

"Proof and stuff?" He raised a brow at this and I could feel an anger flare up. How dare he make a joke of this.

"Yes I've seen and felt things." I jutted my chin out in defiance.

"Di, isn't it enough that I believe you? If I could unsee what I've seen these past months..." He slowly shook his head and my glare softened.

"Ok so we can agree that they aren't human, but what are they exactly?" I bit my lip in thought.

"That I can't tell you. And before you get snarky with me Di, you should know that tribal laws dictate that no outsider can know about these things." He said quickly.

Why would tribal law have anything to do with this unless...

"So the Quileute tribe is involved in this?" I sighed.

"Yes. Although some members of the tribe are more knowledgeable than others about these matter, hypothetically speaking all Quileutes are aware." Paul smiled.

"Ok. I can work with that. Are any other people aware of this? Bella?" I asked.

"Yeah but she chooses to stay with those filthy Mosquitos anyway." Paul mumbled the last bit but I heard it.

"What's the Quileute tribes role in all this?"

"Can't tell you that either."

I dramatically groaned and sunk deeper into the couch. Just when I think I have it all figured out Paul has to put up another road block. I remained quiet instead of arguing like usual. Today was exhausting, I was still tired and sick and still a little freaked out about the whole Jasper episode. Not to mention soaking up everything Paul had ambiguously 'explained' this past half hour.

"Diana just promise me this. I meant what I said this morning, stay away from the Cullens. They're dangerous and I don't want to see you get hurt. As much as it kills me to admit it . . . I can't always protect you. Not when it comes to this. Not when it comes to them."

I stopped my pouty, pity party to look at Paul. His eyes were dark, unreadable and crinkled around the edges. I could see my blinking face reflected in them. I slowly nodded to show him I understood. Normally I'd taunt him and ask why he cared. I'd make him squirm and admit that he cared enough to want protect me. But the look in his eyes stopped me.

He sounded scared. And it scared me too.

We quickly changed the subject after that and Paul popped in a movie to distract me.

"Which movie did you pick?" I asked curiously.

"Not a Romantic Comedy, I save those for when I've got girls over and I need to get laid. Sorry to disappoint." He smirked, discussing his bedroom antics with an expected calm and ease.

"I guess I should feel special but it somehow still sounds like an insult." I kicked him lightly, dropping another dorito into my mouth.

"It's definitely not an insult." Came his mumbled reply but I rolled my eyes and paid attention to the screen.

Halfway through the movie (kill bill volume one) I took a quick stretching break, taking advantage of Paul's warm lap to spread my legs across and curling into a pillow. To my surprise he began rubbing my feet and I had to take a few deep breaths to regain composure. His touch had an unexpected effect on me and trust you me, the squirms of pleasure had not escaped Lahote.

"You're good at this, not surprising." I replied breathily.

"And just how isn't it surprising?" I was met with a raised brow and that sexy half smile of his.

"High school student by day, masseuse by night, prostitute late that night. Same clients." A groan of pleasure bubbled up my throat.

Paul laughed openly at my comment and shoved my feet playfully off his lap.

"You're enjoying this too much." He teased.

I felt something vibrate against my butt and yelped in surprise. It was my phone and Aunt Debra's name flashed on the screen. Odd. I quickly mouthed an apology to Paul and ducked into the kitchen.

"Hello?" I asked cautiously.

Let me just make one thing clear before reminiscing on the first moment in my 17 years of life that any adult attempted to lay down the law, I have never, I repeat, never had any one tell me what to do. And if they did I can't remember when they did so without it resulting in a fist fight of sorts. I'm from Boston, come on. Anywhoo, back to the point, as I stated above I'm not used to any authority figure that isn't the police.

So, you can imagine my extreme discomfort at having Aunt Debra, a woman I'd known for a few weeks at most, yell at me like I was some three year old child. Scratch that, she didn't yell at me. No, no, she tore into me. And I was slack jawed the entire time, unable to say a word.

_"Diana Byrne! What in the world is going on with you? I get a call from the school saying you've skipped out on classes for the rest of the day and then your Art teacher tells me you were supposed to hand in some huge project today, you're missing more than a few assignments in calc not to mention the unit test you decided to skip today. You're a smart, bright, young woman who can go so far but you're limiting yourself with these terrible decisions. I mean Di, I understand you were sick these past two day but when you're healthy there is simply no excuse for this kind of behavior. I'd hate to see you throw away all your opportunities over...well over what is the question? Is it your father's death that's causing all this? The state psychiatrist said you were dealing with it just fine and well..._"

The throbbing in the back of my head flared into a painful headache at the mention of my father.

"Look I'll talk to you when I get home. Goodbye." I hung up without another word.

Close your eyes, a few deep breaths, count to ten. It's ok Di. Nothing gets to you. Maintain cool indifference. I slowly walked back towards the living room my eyes still shut tight..aaaand I slammed into a wall.

"Just my fucking luck." I moaned, rubbing my forehead vigorously.

Paul was at my side in a second, pulling me up to my feet with ease.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah that was Debra. I've gotta head back soon." I bit my lip, letting the pain distract me from the anger.

"Don't bite that hard." He scolded, wiggling my chin until I stopped biting.

"Come on. I'll drop you off."

I grunted in reply but grabbed my school bag anyway. The entire ride back I was a little distracted but only because of Aunt Debra. As much as it killed me to say it, there was some truth behind her words. I was very behind in my school work and with my recent health stint and new part time job, I would have even less time to catch up. Not to mention I had no idea what I was doing my art project on. No concept, no sketches, no ideas, nothing. And it was due yesterday. Technically the teacher had already given me a full day extension and had every right to bitch me out for handing it in tomorrow, so I couldn't even find it in me to ask for another day.

Everything in my sketch book, so far, had been Paul. I'd been obsessively drawing him and even as I was on the back of his motorcycle my blush creeped up. Maybe I should ask...no way he'd be willing to do it.

"Hey. Are you listening to me?"

I snapped out of my daze to find we'd stopped moving and I was still pressed to his toned back. I wordlessly took off my helmet and stepped off the bike. Oh great, the hatchback was in the driveway.

"Thanks for the ride and for the, as usual, extremely vague explanation of your creepy ass town." I waved my hands around our green surroundings.

"No need to sound so sincere." Paul bit out.

I rolled my eyes and watched him peel out of the driveway. Time to face the music. As I made my way up the steps of the front door I raised my hand to knock.

Aunt Debra is going to kill me and I haven't a clue what my art project is going to be about.

As a last second thought I whipped out my phone and tapped a quick text out.

**"Hey. . . I have a tiny favor ask. Be my model for my art project?" **

**Sent to Paul Lasshole. **

At least I got my art project outta the way.

**a/n:**

**damn sorry guys, there are no excuses but i'll be updating regularly now. teehee i feel so guilty to make up for it i tried to make this chapter longer and the next will be up in a few hours. **

**still love u guys,**

**lace**


	9. Chapter 9

**I am abroad right now! (whoo!) **

Chapter 9: Recovery

**Paul Lahote**

"When do I take my clothes off?" I shifted in my seat, pulling on the collar of my t-shirt.

"Sh-Shut up and stay still." Diana hissed with a blush.

"But I'm bored, I thought this would have less clothes and a lot more fun." My voice was whiney and I wiggled my eyebrows baiting her.

"I told you on the phone it wouldn't be nude!" Di cried out.

"No, you told me 'you didn't want any trouble'." I mimicked her slight lilt.

"Same damn thing!" I tried not to laugh at how heavy her accent was when she was angry.

It's currently one am and I'm a liar. A dirty stinking rotten liar. Di invited me over to help her with an art project, she needed me to model. I was flattered of course and very surprised when I climbed into the window of her room. Everything was so different. She had set up a white backdrop and professional lamps for lighting. There was a black chair in the middle and around nine thirty pm, she told me to sit and stay still. For the past three hours I'd been alternating between giving her nothing but hell and just watching her. It was fun to tease her and complain about sitting still because she would get all flustered and annoyed then guilty when I reminded her I was doing a favor out of the goodness of my heart. This was also a lie. I did it because I wanted to. I did it because I needed an excuse to stare at Di. Because as much fun as it was to tease her and know _I _made her blush and stumble over words, it was even more fun to simply look at her. She stood behind the big easel, streaked with paint and swaying slowly to the music in the background. Her shorts were torn and paint splattered, revealing long pale legs that ended in her mint green painted toes. The tanktop she wore clung in all the right places and rode up just a little bit only show more paint on her stomach. Her hair was piled on top of her head with as many pins as a drugstore in every color under the sun, a futile effort considering half of it was already out of the haphazard bun. Even her face had paint. I was extremely tempted to stand up wipe away the smears of purple and wrinkles on her forehead. Her brown eyes were squinted at the painting before her as she vigorously mixed two colors on her palette. One word came to mind. Gorgeous. A lazy smile spread across my face like butter. Even if I was sore and a little bit annoyed at having to sit in the same spot for this long, the view was great and I was missing patrol. Life was beyond good for me right now.

"Ugh! That's not right either." She muttered, tossing aside her brush and making her way over to me.

Di leaned down, giving me a clear view of her ample bosom but I skipped right past it in favor of her face. I started at the sheen of sweat on her forehead and moved down quickly, past her brown eyes and feathery lashes, past her cheekbones and freckled nose, settling on her pale pink lips currently set in a frown.

"I can't get your eye color right." She mumbled, sticking her face closer to mine.

I could see the reflection of my face off her pupil and suddenly thoughts were running through my head. Images of Di and I, lips fused together and shedding our clothes, dangerous thoughts. My mind was hazy and my vision turned fuzzy, the room seemed a hell of a lot hotter. I found myself leaning closer to her, registering her sharp intake of breath. She licked her lips and my hand, my bad bad hand, moved up to cup her face. I could hear her heart beating hard and fast, her rushing blood and dilated pupils told me I wasn't the only one effected by the distance or lack thereof. When my hand was a hairs length away I tilted my head but ultimately she was the one who hit the breaks.

"Don't." Her breath tickled my lips and I nearly shivered at the feeling.

But the words were enough to snap out of it. Di slowly stood up and made a move to walk away and my hand, my bad bad hand, grabbed her arm on its own accord.

"Thought we agreed. No trouble." She said and I immediately dropped her arm.

Trouble? If she kept looking at me like that she'd have more than trouble on her hands.

**Diana Deirdre Byrne **

I was still shaking when I ducked behind the canvas, the paintbrush held by an unsteady grip. His eyes. Just looking at them was enough. Being next to him was enough. Painting his beauty was enough. Paul was a pretty concept. But a disastrous reality. I owed it to myself to stay away. I'd had enough heartbreak. But I couldn't deny the pull, the attraction. And what happened back there? It was nothing but trouble. I continued mixing the colors until I got it right, filling in his chocolate colored orbs and adding an abundant amount of amber flecks. Sometimes his eyes were more hazel than brown, I remembered.

"Finished." I called out after a few minutes.

He stood up and inspected the painting. It was Paul on the canvas. The background was completely white and everything else was done with splatters of pastel. His wide shoulders and collar bones were a mix of light pinks and lilacs. His neck, strong jaw and ears were blues and bright greens. His eyelashes and eyebrows were a dark, moist green. The color of pine trees and rain. His nose was a pale yellow and his lips were a light tangerines. His hair started out the color of coal before dripping down in an almost ombré fashion to a silver. All the colors swirled at the bottom of the canvas, looking as though someone had dumped the bucket of colors over the canvas and let it collect in a puddle on the floor.

"Holy shit! It's so..." Paul simply scratched his chin in confusion.

I watched him drink it up, his eyes flitting over everything before finally settling on the brown eyes.

"How come you kept the eyes?" He unconsciously reached up to rub his own.

"They're amazing. I only hope I did them justice." I chewed on the inside of my cheek to keep myself from saying something stupid like how they were hot and cold, magnetic and repulsive, terrifyingly beautiful.

"I've seen something like this in a museum, Poultry something or other." Paul commented.

"Y-yeah. Jackson Pollock," I blinked in surprise, "we were supposed to pick an artist who's style we didn't identify with. I've never been good with abstract."

"Well you nailed it. Anywhoo, I reckon it's about time to hit the sack." He breezed past me and went straight for my bed.

"Ha ha. Real funny. You have to help me clean up and then go home." I rolled my eyes.

"But Di..." He whined and I bit back a giggle, he looked like a humongous three year old pouting on my bed.

"No buts. I'm gonna wash my brushes and pack up the lighting equipment, I need you to move it all to one side of the room and roll up the backdrop." I instructed, moving a large fan towards the canvas to speed up the drying.

"Fine. Slave driver." Paul mumbled the last part but I caught it and gave him a warning glare.

Carefully tiptoeing downstairs with a bucket of brushes and a palette, I entertained the idea of making him a sandwich as a reward for modeling for me. _Nah, he'll just expect to make him sandwiches all the time_. I filled up the bucket with cold water and dumped all my brushes in.

"He deserves one." I groaned, pulling out the bread.

It only took a few minutes to fix what had to be the best sandwiches I'd ever made. Never mind the fact that I'd had to use pepperjack instead of swiss, it was late at night and I couldn't remember the last time I ate. These weren't factors at all, it was simply great sandwich making skills. I balanced a plate and a few cans of mountain dew. I was halfway up the stairs when I heard the crash. I froze and waited for aunt Debra to wake up. After holding my breath for a full minute her snoring resumed and I creeped upstairs.

"Paul what the hell!" I hissed, trying to comprehend how he had shattered my hand mirror.

When I saw the reflective shard in his palm I nearly gagged. I set the sandwiches and soda cans on my bed.

"First aid kit."

"I'm fine." Came his annoyed reply.

I opened my mouth to tell him off but snapped it shut when I saw him yank the damn thing out of his hand.

"Paul!" I groaned.

If his hand was dripping before it was fucking gushing now.

"My floor. Paul my floor." I stared at the collecting puddle of blood and his hand, transfixed.

"Relax..."

His voice sounded so far away, like I was underwater. And why was I looking at the ceiling?

**Paul Lahote **

One minute I was panicking on how to explain why the skin on my hand was already healing. The next Di was tilting and the back of her head was getting ready to have an intimate conversation with the floor. I dove for her waist and arm, swallowing heavily when I realized I had almost let her fall.

"That would have hurt." I mumbled.

The imprint remember? I feel what she feels. And right now she was nauseous.

"Di? Diana?" I poked her stomach but there was no response.

I carefully laid her down on the bed and dug around in her closet for a scarf.

"This should do the trick!" I held up a bright colored square cloth and tore it into a rectangle.

And voila! An unnecessary bandage to hide my already healing wound. If it stopped Di from asking questions then who cares? Besides I highly doubt she would miss one tiny little scarf. She had a pretty large closet overflowing with clothes. Not to mention Diana was pretty much passed out. And trust me, I would be taking _complete_ advantage of this. . .

"Whoa! They're amazing!" I murmured flipping through the pages of her sketchbooks.

I made sure to skip the 'special' one and picked up a more recent sketchbook, the one I had seen her carry around since her move to Forks. Imagine my surprise when I saw page after page of my face. The only other things she drew were abstract works of glowing, yellow eyes and one of Bella. But besides those, it was like she was dedicating an entire book to me. It would have even been considered a shrine if I didn't know why she had done this.

"Damn, she's fighting this imprint hard." I sighed.

I wanted to be happy that Di was working with me. That we were on the same page. But it hurt more than anything. I'd never been rejected by a girl, let alone my imprint. What was I thinking anyway? That I could fight this thing off for the rest of my life? What would happen when Di went to art school? Or when she finally dated that tool Cameron? They say that the rejection of an imprint is painful enough to drive you to insanity. So why wasn't I crazy yet? Did this mean that Di didn't reject me? Or maybe I was crazy and I didn't know it.

"Explains why the fuck I would pick a fight with this."

It wasn't rejection. It was denial for Diana. And postponement for me.

**Diana Deirdre Byrne **

I had never really been unconscious. I was close to it, at one point I had tipped back and almost hit the floor. But Paul had caught me and poked me a couple of times. I had played it off and let him lay me on my bed. I was horrified when I saw him digging around my stuff and ripping my favorite scarf for a makeshift bandage. It had been vintage Hermes, I had managed to get at a flea market for $2.50. That little piece of cloth he had so casually torn was worth a new camera lens or a set of brushes. Needless to say, I stifled a few sobs. And when Paul picked up my sketchbooks, I nearly screamed. My blood was boiling as I watched him leaf through random pictures. Then he picked up the book I had filled with Paul and when I say filled, I meant every single page. He was quietly observing them all. There was Paul smiling, naked, scruffy and smirking, slick with rain and half asleep. Every moment I had spent with him was committed to a nearly photographic memory and burned onto the pages of sketchbooks and random scraps of paper.

"Damn, she's fighting this imprint hard." I heard him and my ears practically perked up.

There was that word again...'imprint'. But the only thing I was fighting was this intense attraction to Paul. That and the urge to scratch my nose. And if he didn't think I was a creepy stalker before, then I guarantee he was contacting his lawyers now.

"Explains why the fuck I would pick a fight with this."

I started wiggling then. And in a flash, Paul dropped the book and stood above me. I blinked and exaggerated my movements heavily.

"You passed out earlier, wuss. I'm all better though." Paul held his hand up and curled and uncurled it a couple of times.

"Good to hear. Did you clean up the blood?" I scowled, eyeing my beloved scarf on his hand.

"Yup." He grabbed a sandwich and finished it in two bites.

"That was so good." He moaned in bliss, practically inhaling the other one.

"Hey that one was mine." I punched him in the arm.

But Paul, being a human tank, barely felt it. I snatched the cans of mountain dew before he could.

"Greedy." He poked my stomach again.

I raised a brow at him as he kicked off his shoes and took off his pants.

"Whoa there this drink isn't spiked." I grabbed his forearm, stopping his strip tease.

"I can't sleep with pants on. It'll be too hot." He frowned and I nearly choked on my drink.

"Who said you could sleep here?" I spluttered.

Paul gave me a look that read 'moron' and I felt my cheeks getting warm.

"Go home." I said, dragging myself out of bed.

I brushed my teeth and washed the paint off my face, trying to get the spots around my neck and shoulder blades but ultimately giving up. Hopefully they'd come off in the shower tomorrow. I kicked open my bedroom door to find that Paul La-oaf was still in my bed. Matter of fact he was dead asleep.

"Dipshit." I groaned, grabbing a pair of Ironman briefs and a black tanktop.

Quickly changing into my clothes, I set an alarm and turned off all the lights. The darkness swallowed the room and I contemplated how to approach my bed. I wasn't going to sleep on the floor but I couldn't exactly kick him out. Because Paul was so big sleeping next to him, even on my full sized bed, meant being too close for comfort. So I simply buried myself under the covers and made sure to turn my back to him. It didn't do much good, my back and every exposed inch of my body was burning at the proximity.

"Goodnight." I mumbled out of habit.

Paul answered with silence and my body was still on fire. This would be a long night.

/-*-\

Warmth. Skin pressed against skin. I couldn't help it, my hand ran up the length of whatever was flush against me. I felt heat on my waist and when the hands squeezed, I let out a soft laugh. I traced a collar bone, a neck with an adam's apple, a scruffy jaw line. I stopped on two lips, there was a soft exhale before they puckered and planted a kiss on the tips of my fingers.

"Sleeping beauty." A husky voice floated to my ears.

"Mmm." I smiled in response, slowly opening my eyes.

Amber and brown pools, made light by the sun filtering in, stared back at me. And for a second the sight of Paul's black hair, sticking every which way, and the smile on his face quite literally took my breath away.

"Debra was up earlier than usual." He said conversationally.

"Staff meeting." I answered.

Our limbs were entangled, our bodies pressed to one another and our faces a hair's length away. My sheets seemed only to encourage us and with every inhale I felt my chest pressed to his. My gaze dropped down his face and I simply buried my head against his neck.

"I have...school." I struggled to remember.

"Mmm." Paul pressed an open mouthed kiss to my temple and moved his hands down my waist.

My breathing was shallow and I practically melted when he started rubbing slow circles on my hip.

"Paul." It came out a lot more breathy than I intended.

His armed curled around and I was even closer to him, if that was possible. There was a slow thumping sound I faintly recognized as a heartbeat. This was wrong. And despite the fact that every bone in my body was screaming at me to stay, I pulled myself out it. Away from him.

"No trouble, remember?" I gave him a shaky smile, standing above the bed.

Why was it so hard to walk away from him?

"Come back to bed. Please. Just for a little while longer." And I was almost undone.

"We can't do this. I'm going to go get ready for school. You need to leave." I said firmly, before practically running out of the room.

I locked the door to the bathroom, as if I would change my mind any second. Fifteen minutes spent in the shower later, I carefully peeked into the room. He was gone. I sagged in relief and picked out a black peplum top, black skinny jeans and fixed my hair into a wavy ponytail.

"He's nothing but trouble Di. He fucks anything with a pulse. He doesn't want you for you. He'll never love you. He'll never even like you." I repeated it to myself over and over, as I ran the ruby red lipstick over my mouth.

And while it may have been true it still wasn't enough to stop the pain in my chest and the inexplicable feeling of loss.

/-*-\

"Man your art project looks so sick!" Danie chattered in my ear until it threatened to fall off.

It was lunch time and I had already had enough of school for the day. Calculus was absolutely terrible. Because of my little health stint, I had missed the deadline to turn all homework in for the past unit along with the unit test. That doesn't even include the two lessons I missed for the current unit. Luckily, I was never one to slack off so I had been able to turn in the one assignment I missed in the last unit and take my unit test. However I was still ridiculously behind and Eric, my little mathematical genius, had been stand offish today. I'd have to get back into his good graces if I wanted a decent grade this semester. Honors English had finished Ophelia and moved on to a choice unit, and by choice Mr. Fuddy meant a list of books pre-approved by the board of education as 'Honors English' level works. I'd picked a random one, having been brain dead from calc. Jasper, who's very presence had me shaking as I made my way to English earlier, was absent. I was more than happy for it, but it was temporary. Still Rat Boy's new haircut and better showering habits made up for it. I could finally breathe uninhibited and he had, surprisingly, really beautiful eyes under his former greasy mop. A deep cerulean color. Chemistry was alright, the teacher allowed an extension for a lab I had missed, and Edward was also gone. In fact all of the Cullen's were gone.

"Come on, we're eating outside! I have to work on my tan." Danie was pushing me towards a grassy area. It was a rare sunny day in Forks.

"Not in these heels. We can eat on those benches." I pointed at my fire engine red pumps and shook the blue headed energizer bunny off my arm.

The group was discussing some ideas for whatever their next project would be and exchanging opinions on current ones. After barely pulling together my last one, the next project was the least of my worries so I didn't bother listening. My eyes were focused instead on a certain dizzy little brunette. Bella was sitting with her other friends, the humans. The Cullen's were gone today, all of them, which was a little suspicious if you ask me. I didn't know who I could ask besides Paul but he would probably give me a really shitty answer with a triple meaning behind it. I could ask Bella herself, but I didn't want anything to do with them.

"Oh please, you're the one who had heroine in one of your pieces! And you wonder why no one wants your work." Danie laughed.

An argument had broken out, as always, between Danie and a thin as a rail girl named Riley.

"It was a metaphor and for your information I sell plenty of pieces." Riley's usually bored expression was severe.

"Having the fucking needle in the painting isn't a metaphor. It's not bad or anything but way too edgy for Forks, Washington. Places around here prefer light houses and beaches, what makes you think they would even consider yours?" Danie rolled her eyes.

"What about you Di, what's your next piece?" Rory asked.

"Um. . . well." I squirmed in my seat.

"If you're using the same guy from that one," Danie pointed to my canvas carrier, "it better be nude."

"You got a model?" A guy from our group, Pierce, exclaimed.

"She didn't get a model honey she got an angel. I mean literally, the man is perfect." Danie gushed over Paul.

"Is he real Di?" Pierce asked.

"Of course he's a real person." I bit my lip to stop the catty answer that threatened to spill out of me.

"You couldn't imagine that kind of beauty." Danie sighed.

The screeching of the bell halted anymore conversation and we all stood up slowly, reluctant to leave. After all, how could we leave the warmth?

"Hey Danie, can I ask you a quick question?" I blurted.

"Shoot."

"Why aren't the Cullen's here today?" I whispered quietly.

"Oh! Dr. and Mrs. Cullen pull them out on days like this for hiking and stuff. Lucky bastards. I always thought Dr. Cullen was hot." She sighed wistfully.

That sounded reasonable enough. I had never heard of their parents, apparently one was a doctor. What he was a doctor of, I didn't know. It begged the question: were the parents human too?

"Come on!" I was dragged into art class and nearly bumped into Mrs. Hardwick.

"H-hi there Mrs. H." I gulped, giving her a tiny wave.

She fixed me with a look and I scrambled to my seat. I loved Mrs. Hardwick, she was a no-nonsense kind of teacher with mad talent and a habit of smoking and drinking whiskey in class. Of course she claimed that she was smoking an electronic cigarette, perfectly legal, and that her flask had gripe water for her 'intestinal issues'. Fat load of shit that was.

"You're project better be fucking amazing, Dorothy or I might flunk you for the semester." Mrs. H said this with a toothy smile and a long drag of her Marlboro reds.

I gave her a timid smile and walked up, with great difficulty, in my ruby red shoes (which she had been so kind to reference) carrying my hard work.

"Here you go." I set it down carefully and made a dash back to my desk.

"Hold on there girly. Don't you wanna hear the grade?" She asked.

"No thank you, I'll know when the progress reports start coming in." I rushed a sentence.

The truth was, it intimidated me to have someone like Mrs. Hardwick critique my work and I was more than a little nervous. And as much as I wanted to pay attention in art that day, I couldn't.

/-*-\

Tonight was Friday, which meant I had to finish my work in double time if I wanted to go down to Port Angeles. And it meant I needed to develop all my rolls. Sadly there weren't many to develop. And then there was the book store I had to stop by so I could grab the book on Quileute legends. Paul had mentioned the presence of the Cullen's was common knowledge in the tribe and there was even tribal laws about them. What better place to start than the tribe history?

"I'm out!" I hollered, keys in hand.

"Did you turn all your makeup work in?" Debra called back from the kitchen.

"Yes!" I lied, well it was technically true I just had two lessons of Calc to catch up on.

Three if you count today.

"Ok be safe." She replied.

I stepped out into biting air of a Forks spring. Even with my leather jacket, scarf and gloves I was cold. Of course the jacket was a tad small and thin and the gloves were fingerless. But fashion first. I made the careful drive to Port Angeles, buzzing with anticipation. I couldn't get that conversation between Paul and I out of my head. It was driving me insane that the answers he so stubbornly refused to offer me, might be within reach. I was running into the store when it hit 5:00 pm.

"Hello Diana." Mr. Horan said warmly.

"Hi..." I managed a grin.

I pulled the apron on and fixed my name tag. Today would be a slow day filled with hand written price tags and cataloging. At first it surprised me how Mr. Horan made money. He had a few loyal customers but not much else. Then I realized he was stinking rich and he pretty much used the shop as a kind of storage. There was even an entire room in the back with items we were strictly forbidden from selling. He posted his own pictures all around the shop, the amount of places he'd seen and been to was incredible. The whole store had this persistent layer of dust I cleaned nearly everyday. Mr. Horan thought it added a character to the place. And he almost never sold a camera without having a long conversation with the buyer.

"I want my babies to have nice homes and new lives. Is that too much for an old man to want?" He would say to me.

I was convinced he was a hoarder. But it was the best job. There was always music playing from one of those old fashion record players with a horn. Menial tasks weren't so menial when you had the Bee Gees and Beach Boys playing in the background. Around ten o'clock my shift was over and I was nearly done with closing. I locked up the storage, turned off the safelights in the darkroom and counted the money in the register. All of it was then placed in an envelope with the date scrawled on top and placed in a filing cabinet. I did a final sweep of the place before closing all the shutters, flipping the 'open' sign out front and locking up the store. Mr. Horan had already left a half hour ago, perks of being the owner. These days my lanyard was a lot heavier with all the shop keys on it. I walked to the infamous hatchback, tapping directions to the book store on my blackberry. After a five minute drive I haphazardly parked the car and flounced out. The smile fell off my face when I saw a young man flip the 'open' sign to 'closed'.

"Oh co-come on! Two minutes, two minutes please?" I rapped on the glass and begged.

He rolled his eyes before opening the door.

"You have one minute."

I gave him a dazzling smile and hunted through the store for the book I wanted. Luckily, I was able to find it easily. Strolling up to the register I paid him with a scowl and a few choice words. Thunderbird and Whale Bookstore probably wouldn't be getting my business again. But I got what I came for.

/-*-\

Whatever notion I had of hope was dashes. The book, the stupid book, had left me even more confused. If that was even possible.

"Ugh!" I tossed the damn thing out of my window.

"Oh shit!" I ran a hand through my head before tip toeing downstairs and out the back door with a flash light.

Of all the idiotic fucking ideas I choose to throw a book. . . .

"Looking for this?" The voice stopped me dead in my tracks.

The little beam of light slowly made its way up the figure of none other than Jasper Hale. The golden eyes crinkled in a playful smile but all I felt was my blood run cold. I turned around and made a run for it.

"I just want to talk." I slammed right into him, falling in a sorry heap on the ground.

Jasper offered me a hand and I stood up on my own, slapping the offending thing away. It never occurred to me how he had moved so fast. But the fact that he was nearly a step away from my doorstep dashed any plans I had of escape. Now he knew where I lived. He could get me anytime he wanted.

"Yes you can come in you piece of shit." I hissed sarcastically, leading the way towards my room.

And still my aunt slept. He sat on my bed casually and I stood nervously at the foot, hatching escape plans I knew wouldn't work. I mean throwing myself out the window was suicidal. And running to Debra only to have her catch me with a boy in my room was equally suicidal.

"Like I said. . . I just want to talk."

"Okay. Let's talk. Let's talk about the fact that you and your brothers and sisters, aren't human. Now just how does an entire family end up not being human? Hmm? That leads me to believe that there are more of you out there. Unless your mother and father happen to be sisters which makes your race, whatever it may be, incestous." I started rambling my theories at him.

"Or maybe you came to talk about you, just you. Jasper who is freakishly strong, fast and has extremely cold hands by the way. Who makes me feel things I don't wanna feel. What else can you do? Shoot lasers out of your eyes? I mean I know you're not human and it seems like Paul and the entire Quileute tribe knows this and is okay with it. But what are you exactly? Cyborgs? Aliens?"

Jasper and I sat in silence for a few minutes, as he leafed through my book of legends.

"Guess again. How about this? I tell you exactly what my family is and any other questions you have after." Jasper slowly flipped a page of the book, skimming over it.

"What do I have to do in exchange?" I asked, swallowing nervously.

"As you already guessed. . . I have the power to control emotions. But I can feel them as well. And the first day I met you, you felt something that brought me to hell and back," Realization dawned on me, "yes that panic attack was all you. I want to know what happened. What you were thinking. Everything. I want to know how you did that to me."

I shook my head slowly, my throat dry as the Sahara. I couldn't do it. I couldn't tell him. But the more logical side of me argued it. Jasper was offering me vital information. And all I had to tell him was something that he could research and find out for himself. A death certificate, a funeral, an obituary. It was all too easy. What he was telling me. . . I could never find out in my own. But I couldn't bring myself to say it. So I walked over to my desk and grabbed the sketchbook, tossing it at him.

"My dad. A few months back." I cleared my throat.

Jasper raised a brow, confused and waiting go me to continue. But that was all I was willing to say. He pursed his lips and opened the book. And Jasper stared at that first page for a full minute, realizing what I meant. At an agonizingly slow pace he flipped through the whole book.

"I. . ." The words caught in his throat.

"A deal is a deal. Tell me what you guys are." I cut him off.

"Are you sure?"

I rolled my eyes at him and motioned for him to continue.

I should have never made the deal.

A/n:

Slow updates I'm sorry. Currently abroad!

Xx

L


	10. Chapter 10

**Enjoy! ;)**

**Chapter Ten: Reality **

"I have to apologize. I am the worst kind of an asshole for making you share something so personal with me." Jasper mumbled for about the ninth time.

Completely ignoring the fact that he made a deal to tell me what he was.

"It's whatever." I replied.

"No. No it's not. I mean I thought that. . . I thought it was on purpose. That someone did this to get to my family and I. I just. . . I should really go." Jasper stood up then.

"No! Jasper a deal is a deal!" I hissed, not willing to let my only chance at the truth walk away.

"Diana that was a deal made under false pretenses. Okay?" He shook his head.

"Jasper Hale you better tell me what I want to know." I grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away from my door.

"Look, Paul will fill you in. I can't be the one to do this. Besides you don't want to know what I would have told you. Just. . . keep your alien theory alright? And I'll hang on to this." I realized he was holding the Quileute legends book.

My eyes narrowed. He wouldn't.

"Ja-sper that dirty son of a bitch!" I cried out.

He was gone.

**Jasper Hale **

An absolute jackass that's what I was. And if I thought I couldn't look her in the eyes before. . . .

I got home quickly and lo and behold Edward was awake.

"So?" He prompted.

I tossed the book on the couch and threw myself on it too.

"So?" I shot back.

"How did it go?" Another voice joined the conversation.

I looked up to see Rosalie, as charming as ever, awaiting my answer.

"How did what go?" I replied curtly.

"Will you answer the question!" Emmett shouted.

Which in turn caused almost everyone else to come downstairs.

"It went horribly okay? We were wrong. All of us. We were wrong to assume this was somehow Aro's work! I should have never gone over there in the first place." I buried my face in my hands, completely disgusted and ashamed.

"How else would they have known to use your emotions as a weakness?" Edward asked.

"She's just an innocent girl who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." I mumbled, vigorously rubbing my eyes.

But the images wouldn't disappear. He was still hanging there.

"You're not making any sense." Carlisle said gently.

"I realize that it's been a while since any of us were actually human but the next time any of you witness your father's suicide tell me how you feel!" I snapped, stalking away to my bedroom to see the only one who hadn't been downstairs hanging on to every word that came out of my mouth.

The only one who understood the intense guilt and remorse I was feeling. And the only one who had seen this coming.

/-*-\

**Diana Deirdre Byrne **

The next morning I woke up still fuming over what happened last night. Not only had Jasper gypped me out of an answer but he had taken my book about Quileute legends too. I had the important parts jotted down somewhere but it wasn't anything like having the whole book for reference. Alien theory my ass. Not to mention the entirely too familiar cryptic nature behind every word out of his mouth. I would probably have to throw every theory I had considered out. Ugh this whole thing was giving me wrinkles. What does a girl have to do to get some answers around here? I bounded downstairs for some breakfast only to find the house empty.

"Great. It's one in the afternoon." I grumbled, kicking the fridge closed.

My cereal was demolished quickly and I quickly went back upstairs for a shower and change of clothes. The weather had, of course, turned to shit again. So I opted for a striped hoodie, denim vest and cream colored skinny jeans tucked into green wellington boots. Today would be the first time I wore wellington boots, I had bought them especially for Forks when I found out how rainy the weather would be. They were extremely comfortable and practical. I pulled my hair into a fishtail and tucked the loose strands into a beanie. I didn't bother with any makeup, the librarians would be the only ones to witness me barefaced. Not only did I have some homework to tackle but I also had to research and come up with a new plan concerning the Cullens. . . now that I could cross off cyborgs and aliens off the list.

**Paul Lahote**

Nothing beats going for a run. You burst out of the confines of humanity, the feelings of stress and anxiety don't matter. You enter this heightened state of awareness, where the only thing your mind registers is the sound of your breath and the burning and aching of muscle. But its a sweet burn and the air is fresh in your lungs. Yesterday I made it up to Canada and back, collapsing in my bed afterwards. I got the best sleep I'd had in ages.

But you can't run forever.

As soon as my eyes snapped open the first thing on my mind was Diana. And how I was gonna handle the imprint. Clearly I couldn't handle myself when I was around her. Every second I spent with her I found another excuse to stop fighting the imprint. My freedom was at stake here, I had to stay away from her. But if I wasn't around, then who would protect her? I grabbed the cup on my nightstand and smashed it against the wall in frustration.

"No more. . . no more." I pleaded with God, the spirits, Buddha and anyone else willing to listen.

Diana had gone 16 years of her life without me and survived without a scratch. She could make it another 70 or so.

/-*-\

**Diana Deirdre Byrne **

I crawled out of the library that evening with all my calculus homework done and two new disturbing and outrageous theories. The first was that the Cullens were Yeti's. The second was back to the aliens theory. I couldn't really justify either, beyond the body temperature of a Yeti, but they were all I had. However there had been another lead that came up as I was getting ready to leave. A book that briefly mentioned a creature in Ancient Egypt called the Apotamkin. I decided to save it for later. Even with the lead though, it was getting harder and harder to figure out the truth. Every trail turned cold and it seemed like reality was setting in. Reality being that I could never gather enough proof to solidly back up my claims. For now though, I refused to accept this reality. The sun was going to set, another great opportunity to take pictures.

"Um hey Paul it's me. Diana. But you probably knew that cause of the other four times I called. Ok just call me back in the next ten minutes or text me Embry's cell number. I'm counting..." I hung up after being sent straight to voicemail. Again.

He was probably with someone. And by someone I mean a girl. Annoyed, I decided to call Embry's house phone instead.

_"Hello?"_ He answered the phone today, sparing me an awkward conversation with his mother.

"Hey, it's me Di." I chirped

_"What's up?" _

"I need a favor. Can you come down to my aunt's house in ten minutes?" I asked.

_"Sure." _

"Great. Be there in five. I'm counting."

_"W-wait you said ten-"_

I hung up the phone with a small smile. And when I pulled into the driveway, Embry was sitting on the steps of the porch.

"Why did you give me five minutes when you knew you wouldn't be home for another ten minutes?" Embry didn't look mad, only amused.

"To test you. Are you coming in?" I held the door wide open for him.

Aunt Debra was inside the house, getting ready to leave. I assumed she had a date with Fuhrer, the head of the art department at La Push High School, but she wouldn't tell me.

"Dinner's in the fridge. Don't do drugs, throw a party or have unprotected sex while I'm gone. I'll be back late tonight." I was absolutely mortified as she pulled me in for a hug.

Embry's face was slowly turning red while mine drained of color.

"Oh hello there Embry. Didn't see you there," A pause and wink in my direction "remember what I said Di!" And just like that she was gone.

Embry burst into laughter as I threw my backpack on the living room floor.

"Priceless." He finally managed to say.

I flipped him off and proceeded to drag him into my room. I kicked open the door and pushed him on my bed before the thought finally occurred to me that the big and buff Embry was letting me do this.

"Now that you have me on your bed, you planning on having your wicked way with me?" Embry sniggered.

I threw him a lethal look and before digging through my backpack for the notebook. I also grabbed my two Canon Ae 1's and a couple rolls of film.

"These are the Canon Ae 1s, great manual film slrs." I held the two up for Embry to inspect.

"They're cool and all. . . but why do you need two?"

"This one is yours and the other is mine. I originally bought mine first, but since these cameras are vintage the pictures I took with this first one always had light leaks. I ended up liking the light leaks but then I needed a film camera that didn't have light leaks so I bought the second one afterwards." I explained but the expression on his face told me he didn't understand.

I rolled my eyes before pulling a box out of my closet filled with a ton of random pictures I didn't like enough to display inside.

"Ok so this picture was taken with the first camera I bought, see all these streaks of gold and red in the picture? And this was a picture taken with my other regular camera." I pointed out the differences.

I spent the next couple of minutes walking through the basic functions of the camera, how to read the light meter and set the aperture before taking the picture.

"I think I got it." Embry fiddled with the focus a bit more.

"Good cause we're going hiking. Here let me put some film in it for you." I yanked the camera by it's strap, down to my five foot height and loaded a cartridge of film.

"You'll feel it stick when the roll is done." I let him straighten up.

We grabbed some snacks and before taking the map and compass, the only necessary items from my aunt Debra's famous leather bag, and heading out. Embry surprised me by walking in complete silence, looking through his lens the whole time without taking a single picture. Pretty soon we were in the thick of the forest, La Push.

"Can you take me back to the spot? The one you found me in?" I asked softly, not wanting to startle any natural life.

"N-no," He paled or as pale as he could get, "but I know another cool spot."

I shrugged and let him lead the way. I was fixing the shutter speed when he broke the silence again.

"Why did you do this?"

I thought long and hard for all the possible meanings and connotations of the sentence before I considered ways to answer it.

"I gave you camera because I was curious. I wanted to see this forest through the eyes of an inexperienced photographer, someone who wasn't on the hunt for a perfect picture." I said finally.

"So perspective? That's what photography is about for you?" He asked.

"I guess." I shrugged.

I took an entire roll of pictures and demonstrated to Embry how to take film out.

"I feel like a grasshopper." Embry joked, snapping a shot of me.

"No pictures of your sensei allowed, apprentice." I reprimanded, covering my face with my hands.

Embry showed another gorgeous clearing that gave way to a marsh, before taking me to the cliffs. Once at the cliffs, I stood as close to the edge as possible before taking a few shots.

"Hey, hold your arms out. Like in titanic." Embry instructed behind me.

I obliged, taking the time to watch the waves crashing violently against the earth thirty two feet below hiked to a little clearing and stopped for a snack.

"There's a reason why I dragged you out here." I mumbled through a mouthful of chips.

"What? Like an ulterior motive?" He laughed.

"Kind of. I had an interesting meeting the other night. With Jasper." I quietly gauged his reaction.

Embry's entire face dropped, that was the only way to describe it.

"Christ Diana, why the fuck would you do that? You know what they are." He swore.

"No actually, that's the thing. I don't know what they are. Paul and everyone else, Jasper included, seems hellbent on keeping me in the dark on this." I retorted.

Embry remained silent but I could feel him cracking.

"How come everyone in the Quileute tribe knows? Why doesn't anyone else?"

"I shouldn't be the one to tell you this. It should be Paul." Embry sighed.

"Why?" I was thrown off, again. Jasper had said the same thing.

There was another long silence. I took it as the conversation being over. Which meant this entire thing had been a waste. These pictures had better come out amazing.

"He likes you, you know." Embry stated this like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"He likes every girl." I snorted.

"I'm serious. You're the only girl he hasn't fucked within a few hours of meeting her. You're the only girl whose name he remembers. You're the only girl who's number he has saved in his phone. Hell, you're the only girl he's ever spent the night with." He rattled these off and I felt those bats in my stomach again.

"Stop."

"And you like him too. Whether you admit it or not."

"Then why won't he tell me the truth?" The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"To protect you." He replied softly.

Great another dead end.

/-*-\

I blinked and the weekend was over. Monday morning descended and I still didn't know what to do about the Cullen situation. Paul was ignoring me it seemed, but Embry had kept me company with early morning and evening hikes. I was happy to have his company and the rolls I had developed were stunning. I would have to work with the negatives before Wednesday if I wanted to incorporate some of the work into my art class.

"Sunday morning rain is falling!" Debra shrieked on our way to school.

Singing wasn't exactly her forte. I begged for us to get to school faster but I ended up having to sit through her squawking the whole song before I could leap out of the car. The stares at Forks had toned down a bit over the past week but today they were in full force.

"I know what you're thinking, why's everyone staring at me?" Danie cackled at my mortified expression.

"Well check it out!" She pulled me along to the lobby of the school and pointed to the big glass enclosure I had rarely noticed.

Gone was the clutter of sculptures, various photographs and paintings. Lighting had been installed to glorify the painting on display. Mine.

"Shit." I stared back at 'Paul'.

Danie cried about how lucky I was that Ms. H had done this. Apparently it was hard to gain her favor. I was especially surprised at the fact that she had chose to display my work even though it was a day late.

"I'll see you later Danie." I shuffled away, still amazed.

Calculus was, as usual, a complete bore. But I paid attention and furiously took notes, I couldn't afford a bad grade in this class. Erik invited me out with him and his friends, again. I awkwardly declined, again. But he got points for persistence. We were working on our choice books in English, it was meant to be individual reading time but we spent a good chunk of it just chatting. The boy in front of me, who I used to call Rat Boy, was blushing like mad every time I so much as looked at him. I thought it was really cute and if the stares he was getting from all the girls in class meant anything, I wasn't the only one who noticed just how cute he was.

"I saw your painting in the front. It's really good." He finally managed.

"Thanks." My smile got wider when I saw him blush even harder.

I awkwardly inched away towards an empty corner. Well almost empty.

"Jasper." I hissed.

I was still scared of him, to be honest. But the anger I felt from our broken deal outweighed the fear. He didn't look up from his book but his eyes stayed glues to one spot. Clearly the asshole wasn't reading. I plopped down next to him and smacked his book away. Jasper still wasn't looking at me.

"I'm s-sorry Di." He looked nervous.

But what reason did he have to be nervous? I was the human.

"What the hell are you apologizing for?" Jasper finally made eye contact with me but he looked painfully uncomfortable.

Why was he acting this way?

"Is this about my dad dying?" The look on his face said it all.

"Di..."

"Save it Jasper. He died and I've moved on." The stab of pain in my gut said otherwise.

Jasper searched my face for...what? Something. But eventually he was satisfied.

"Anyways, a funny thing happened this weekend. I took a trip to a little bookstore and found my favorite book was out of stock. Several hundred copies sold." I glowered at him.

"Unfortunate." Jasper's smiling face said otherwise.

"You know I'll find out eventually. I read that book cover to cover before you stole it." I said casually.

"Oh I have no doubt about that. You're a very capable and bright young woman. Taking that book only delayed what would have happened."

I pulled out a small Polaroid, a purchase I'd made this past weekend, and snapped a picture of him. It was for my dirty little secrets notebook, the one with all my wacky theories in it. He rubbed his eyes for a few seconds before looking up at my camera with a terrified expression. Something was wrong. I practically ran to the other side of the room, the still developing picture in my hand. Jasper stood up, meaning to give chase, before he sighed and slouched back into his seat.

Victory.

Now let's see what's so special about this picture. . . .

/-*-\

**Paul Lahote**

"She met with who?" I roared in outrage.

"Calm down caveman. We're in school." Embry rolled his eyes.

I ran a hand through my hair before tugging on it. I would be bald before 25 if I kept this up.

"Why?" I slammed my head on the table repeatedly.

"Ok, you can't afford to lose anymore brain cells Paul." He grabbed my head and pulled me up to face him.

"Is she suicidal?" I moaned.

"No. She's hurt that you're keeping this from her Paul." He said slowly, like I was a toddler.

"You know why I'm doing this!" I snapped at him.

Maybe I was childish after all. But I couldn't do this to Diana. If I told her what the Cullens were I was risking everything. Nothing would be normal for her anymore. And after losing her mother and witnessing her father's death, could I really fuck up her perception of the world some more? She would find out about the tribe and the spirit warriors. She would find out about imprinting and me. All the lies were connected and unraveling one would destroy the rest. I couldn't be selfish enough to take Diana out of blissful ignorance and expose her to all the things that go bump in the night. I sure as hell couldn't tell her about the werewolf or imprinting business. But she seemed bent on knowing even willing to be in a room with Japser, the very creature she was terrified of.

"I know you don't want to hear this. But you need to grow up. You imprinted and you can't walk away from it. Diana deserves the truth and she deserves it from you." Embry's tone was harsh.

"I can't."

"Diana is here and she's here for life. So stop avoiding this. You're not doing her any favors by keeping this from her. She's gonna find out sooner or later it's inevitable. And the sooner she finds out the safer she'll be." He continued as if I hadn't said anything.

"I'm not going to tell her." I repeated.

"You're pathetic Paul and if you don't tell her, I will!" Embry exploded.

He stalked out of the room, leaving me completely gobsmacked. Embry. . . was mad?

/-*-\

**Diana Deirdre Byrne **

The picture of Jasper was extremely blurry, it almost looked faded or like someone had held a match under the photograph. But this kind of thing happened when the paper your Polaroid was printing on was damaged, so I wasn't surprised. The next picture I took wasn't blurry so that confirmed that the issue was with the paper and not the camera. I shrugged it off and made my way to chemistry. But not before slamming into someone. I stumbled back for a second before slipping and falling to the ground.

"I-I'm so sorry!" The apology came from none other than Bella Swan.

The girl I had been avoiding for some time now.

"It's alright." I assured, standing up stiffly.

She picked up my books while I checked to make sure my camera was okay.

"Haven't seen you in a while." Bella flashed me a small smile.

"Yeah, it's been a minute." I nodded.

"How're you adjusting?" She sounded a bit timid.

"Well. Calc hasn't melted my brain completely." I joked.

"That's good. Hey, listen. . . I'm really sorry about how everything happened." She swallowed nervously.

"Don't be." I cut her off.

"No, I am. Here, this is my number. If you ever wanna hang out or just need someone to talk to, don't hesitate." She squished the scrap of paper in my palm before walking away.

Great. Pity friends.

/-*-\

Paul was ignoring me. And Ms. Hardwick refused to take down my painting. In fact she practically chewed my head off when I brought up the idea. I didn't like people who weren't paying money to see my things. And yes I'm aware that sounds stingy. But I didn't like people looking at my art, as weird as that sounds, and if they compensated by paying me for it. . . .we all know a few Benjamin's can solve anything. So if you're not paying for it don't look at it. Unless you were Paul. He got away with keeping my stuff all the time for some odd reason.

"And he's still ignoring me." I hung up.

I quickly went back to doing my homework. I couldn't waste my time over his temper tantrum. Danie and I were supposed to be going out for dinner tonight.

/-*-\

**Paul Lahote **

My ringtone blared again and I swore to change it before the night was over. I'm an ACDC fan as much the next guy, but after listening to this shit non stop it gets old. Embry threw down his x-box controller and stormed out of the room. Again.

"You're a dick." Seth said with cheerful expression.

I was about to smack him when I saw he had already killed off my character. Sneaky little...

"Hey, come back Paul!" He chortled.

I froze at the doorway at the sight of a furious looking Embry, who had changed out of his basketball shorts and wife beater into proper clothes. He shoved right past me and dragged Seth by his ear.

"You have three minutes to get ready and meet me in the car. We're going out." Embry instructed to Seth, before pushing past me again.

It was still a mind boggling thing. Embry Call. . . mad?

/-*-\

**Diana Deirdre Byrne **

"Danie I need your help." I said as we walked back to my car.

Dinner had been great, turns out Danie cleans up really well. Too well in fact, cause afterwards she forced me to sneak into a bar with her. We ended up grabbing a few drinks and sweating out the buzz on the dance floor. Her excuse? She didn't want to waste an outfit. But I couldn't argue that.

"Shoot."

I bit my lip, still hesitant to tell her. But I had hit a dead end and Danie was the next person I trusted enough to confide in. My aunt would probably stick me right back in a psych ward and I'd probably be on suicide watch. Again.

"Ok you can't call me crazy or anything for this. I swear on my father's decomposing body and my dead mother's soul that this is the truth."

"Alright, damn! Your marbles are all there we've established that." She laughed.

I drove for a few more minutes before plucking up the courage to tell her.

"The Cullens aren't human. They're something else...something not human." I blurted out.

"Oookay. Care to elaborate?" Danie actually sounded bored.

Leave it to her to sound bored when I tell her something like that.

"I mean they're not of the same species as us. As in they're something that's not Homo Sapien! Remember how I got sick?" I gripped the steering wheel tighter.

"Yeah?" Danie sounded a little more confused now.

"It's cause I was out in the woods during a storm. I got lost and some woman came up to me. Only she wasn't a woman, I mean she was strong. Like crazy strong and she had these red eyes. And she wanted to. . . kill me? Eat me? Something along those lines. But then she dropped me. And she was pale and had this beauty. . . and every time I looked at her, every part of my body was screaming to run, get away. That's exactly how I feel around the Cullen's. Then Jasper he did this thing to me, to try and convince me everything was fine. It was like he was forcing me to stay only I could feel it, my mind was telling me to relax and forget but my body. . . I just lost it." I fumbled for words, struggled to explain.

"Slow down." Danie said soothingly.

"He isn't human and he admitted it. That entire family isn't human. And get this. . . Bella knows. And she's still dating Edward." My voice was practically dripping with disgust.

"He said it? That he wasn't human?"

I nodded furiously.

"And do you remember the guy from my painting?" I wavered, not knowing whether I should tell her about Paul.

"Yeah?"

"He knows that they aren't human. He warned me to stay away from them before all this happened. At first I thought it was silly but when I met them, I felt unsafe and they all rubbed me the wrong way. My body was always telling me to run away. So I listened."

"Ok I believe you." Danie sighed quietly.

"Just like that?" I asked timidly.

"Of course. I mean I always knew human beings weren't the only ones in this universe. It's a little ignorant of us to assume, don't you think?" She shrugged.

"T-thank you." I was astonished at how easily she accepted this.

I had a mental breakdown when I realized they weren't exactly human. And here she was just sitting in my car, shrugging like it was an ordinary thing. Oranges are orange and human beings aren't the only thing on this planet.

"The question that remains is, if the Cullen's aren't human what are they?" She continued.

"That's what I've been trying to figure out and the only thing I've got so far is aliens. The guy from my painting, Paul, he knows what they are. And he refuses to tell me. Jasper refuses to tell me to. But Paul did tell me it was common tribal knowledge. He's Quileute. And I talked to some of his friends, just to make sure. They all know the Cullen's aren't human and they seem fine with it." I said, remembering how Embry reacted when I told him about my meeting with Jasper.

"So the Cullens obviously wont tell us and same goes for Bella. We just have to do some poking around the Quileute tribe." Danie said it like it was the easiest thing. But she never had to suffer through a frustrating conversation with La-asshole.

"Will you help me?" I begged.

"You honestly expect me to sit around and do nothing after you tell me something like this?"

Thank god I had met Danie. She gushed for a few more minutes about how she had always known something else was out there and how, now that she thought about it, the Cullens were unnaturally beautiful. My cell phone rang, interrupting her sonnet about Edward and Jasper's impeccable bone structure, and I asked Danie to pick it up. After a few seconds she finally spoke up.

"Someone named Embry. He said he's on his way to your house right now and that it's really important. He said he's gonna tell you what you wanted to know. And he sounds hot. Quit hogging all the guys Di!" Danie squealed but I was too busy picking up my jaw.

"Danie shut up. That's Paul's friend, the one I talked to. He's gonna tell me what I want to know." My cheeks and lips stretched into an almost grotesque smile.

"What? He changed his mind? Drive faster!" She cried out.

My foot obeyed, practically slamming down on the gas. Buddha bless Embry.

**A/n: **

I start school again next week so I'll try to update again before then! I know I've been putting off the big reveal but it may be put off another chapter cause I have some canon plot work to into the story. Hope you enjoyed though!

Love

L


	11. Chapter 11

**Answer to a question: Di didn't transfer schools, she was only at La Push High for one day to use their darkroom. I think when I hit 20 chapters I'm gonna go back and edit or something cause I always notice awkward choppy sentences, vague explanations or typos after I post a chapter then I get too lazy to fix it -_-**

**As for Embry imprinting on Danie...not likely.**

**I got nearly 4k visitors on the last chapter, which makes me super duper happy. But don't forget to review you guys! I wanna hear your thoughts.**

Chapter Eleven: Gravity

It was way too cold outside for me to be waiting on Embry. Short dresses aren't exactly good with thermal retention. Although Danie was taking the lack of heat better than I was.

"Hey, who's Embry? How old is he? He sounds totally hot. Can I have him? Please?" She begged.

Have I ever mentioned how boy crazy Danie is? She goes through guys like Kleenex. It was actually unhealthy how many guys she'd dated. The girl was 15 and pulling seniors in high school. Don't ask me how she does it, usually they don't last more than two weeks. She claims each fling is her latest muse. Hell, I was surprised she wasn't on a first name basis with Paul.

"Can you focus on the situation at hand? The situation being, we are about to figure out what the Cullen's are." I reminded her but she was already reapplying lipgloss.

A car drove slowly past my block before quickly hitting reverse and parking haphazardly in the street. Embry and someone else jumped out of the car. As they got closer to the floodlights, I realized it was Seth. He was a lot taller than when I had last seen him, but still had that boyish charm.

"Hey, Danie this is Embry and Seth!" I introduced them.

Seth was looking at Danie wide eyed and slack jawed, like the sun shone out of her ass. And Danie? She was blatantly checking out Embry.

"Cool, nice to meet you." Embry stuck his hand out, oblivious of his friends reaction.

"You too sugar." Danie winked shaking his hand vigorously.

I nudged her out of predator mode and pointed at Seth.

"Aw hell! Seth don't do this to me not right now." Embry groaned, shoving at his slightly shorter companion.

"I love you." Seth said dreamily.

And imagine my surprise when Danie actually blushed! That's right, from the tips of her blue streaked hair to her white loafer clad feet. She turned bright red and executed a tiny cough of embarrassment.

"Don't be rude." I hissed at her.

"R-right nice to meet you Seth, I'm Danie." She stuttered.

Ok, what the fuck?

"Wanna go make out in Embry's truck?" Seth blinked rapidly as if he couldn't believe the words came out of his mouth.

Danie, the little...um well minx for lack of better terms, shrugged and walked towards the car. Looks like she had a new muse.

"Ha! Let's see how long that lasts." I said to no one in particular.

"Seth I swear if I see that truck rocking even in the slightest, your hide is mine. Of all the effing nights." Embry bellowed out.

If that didn't wake the whole block, I didn't know what would. Hopefully not the two teenagers playing naked twister in the back of a car.

"When I was 15 I was still slinging rocks into car windows." I sighed.

Oh how the youth progress.

"Can we go inside?" He nodded towards the front door.

Debra was still sleeping soundly, she probably trusted me when I told her I'd be back by 12. Poor sucker. I spent the next five minutes nervously fidgeting on the couch, channel flipping while Embry looked at the carpet in deep thought.

"What police are now referring to as merely a string of baffling murders in the city of Seattle, may be more serious than officials are letting on. Dozens are dead or missing and all the bodies recovered are drained of blood. Criminal psychologists think it may be just one serial killer followed by copy cat murderers, citing up to six or more suspects." She droned on and on so I turned off the tv.

"Probably just a turf war. Stuff like that used to happen in Boston all the time. One gang would go around taking another gang's little dime bag slingers and then cut off their fingers, send it back to the higher ups. Weird shit."

Another ten minute silence and this time I was sure I could hear the truck rocking.

"Di I can't begin to explain how much I want to tell you. And how much you, out of everyone else, deserve to know. But I don't know if I can tell you what they are, the truth about the Cullen's is too. . .engraved in my tribe." He finally spoke.

"I read a book. About tribal legends and things." I sighed.

"Really?" His eyes were practically bulging.

I gave him an odd look but he just smiled brightly.

"The answers are in the book." Embry exclaimed.

I combed through my memory trying to think of what he meant. A few phrases jumped out at me.

"Spirit Warriors? Or Cold Ones?" I tested the words slowly on my tongue.

"Think Di, what's ice cold, strong and fast?" Embry gripped my forearm tightly.

"Uh. . . a yeti? I don't know Embry! I don't remember enough from the book to put the pieces together." I grumbled.

"So that's all you have so far? A yeti?" He sighed, leaning back to pinch to bridge of his nose.

"No! I have other stuff. Just shut up and be quiet. I'll be right back." I kicked him with the heel of my boot, but it didn't faze him.

Even his toes were made of steel. I bounded upstairs and grabbed my laptop and notebook.

"Ok. All I had before was aliens and yetis. But you and Jasper practically took a dump on both theories. So I don't really have anything left. Except for this book that kind of talked about something called an Apotamkin." I struggled with the pronunciation but Embry didn't know what it was either.

"Google it."

Have you ever played the Wikipedia game? It's really simple you start at a random wiki page and from there you have to get to a specific page using only the links in the content section. Google searching for the Apotamkin was kind of like playing the Wikipedia game. As soon as I finished reading about the Apotamkin there was a link to page describing a similar creature in Peru, then another in Africa and even another in Aborigine culture. Each picture was more gruesome than the last until they all became a blur of ivory dripping with crimson.

"Romanian folklore. . . Dracula." I managed to choke out.

Even Einstein couldn't have dreamt up this theory. Vampires. Not breathing, undead creatures. What every little kid dressed up as for Halloween. How could I have not seen it? How could they have been anything else? The cold and pale skin, the speed and strength of Jasper, the Cullens absence on sunny days, the constant dread in the pit of my stomach whenever I was around them. What had that woman in the forest called me? A blood bag.

"Oh god."

The very fundamental and basic rule of every single vampire myth and legend there ever was being...what do they eat? There were seven of the Cullens, if you counted the Dr. and Mrs, and around three thousand potential food sources for them. Food translating to people.

"How could the Quileute tribe know this and say nothing? Do nothing? Embry they're vampires...they eat us!" My voice was shaking with fear.

"Shhh. You need to relax and take a deep breath." He tried to sate my fear but I couldn't be calmed.

"Relax? Knowing that at any given moment three thousand innocent people could be slaughtered? For fucks sake!" I let loose a string of curses in gaelic, probably butchering my native tongue in the process.

"You're going to wake up your aunt." Embry panicked.

That shut me up real quick.

"Look. The Cullens, they don't drink human blood." He whispered.

I threw him a confused look and opened my mouth to protest but he slapped a hand over my mouth.

"Let me finish," Embry smirked, "the doc he has them on animal blood. They signed a treaty with the former Chief of our tribe. Ephraim Black."

The name definitely rung a bell. I tried to talk again but he shook his head, refusing to move his hand even when I licked it.

"I'm a guy." He rolled his eyes. Great now I had his hand germs all over my tongue for nothing.

"Back to the treaty, it basically states that if the Cullens come on our land or so much as bite a human, we kill 'em. It's all apart of our tribal history, our legends. Few people know it's _actually true _but, essentially, they all know about it." Embry finally took his hand off my mouth.

Bastard.

"You sneaky little sons of bitches." I shook my head in disbelief.

"Diana this doesn't mean they aren't dangerous. Animal or human, a diet doesn't change their nature. There's always a chance that temptation will become too much. And being close to those blood suckers is the dumbest thing you can do. It will never be matter of _if _they kill you, it'll be when." He warned.

And for once those words sunk in.

"So who all knows about the Cullens?" I finally asked.

"The Lahotes, Jared Cameron, the Blacks, the Atereas, the Clearwaters, tribal council, Sam Uley, Emily Young. . . oh and your friend. That Kim chick." He smiled widely.

"Holy shit that's a lot more people than. . . wait Kim?!" I shouted.

He immediately smacked his hand back over my mouth. I squirmed in anger, biting and slobbering all over it.

"I'll take my hand off if you promise to use your indoor voice." He spoke slowly, as if I was a special needs child.

I nodded grudgingly and as soon as he removed it, I immediately pinched his arm.

"Ow!"

"That's what you get." I humphed, ignoring his totally adorable pouty face.

"Kim knows. . .hmmm makes sense. Jared probably told her. And to think she just let me continue living in ignorance, right under the fangs of those gruesome creatures. Some friend. I would've told her." I lamented.

"She couldn't exactly say anything. It's not her fault." He scowled so I pinched him again.

"Stop doing that, it hurts!"

"Anyways look, my head hurts and I've seen enough of you today to last me a week. Tell Paul he can stop avoiding me now that I know. Or not, I don't care either way. Oh and do me a favor? Make sure Danie and Seth were only dry humping and drop her off at her house so they can at least learn each other's last names before they do the dirty." I wrinkled my nose in disgust.

"I'll be sure to tell Paul how hot you look tonight!" He winked.

I looked down at my crimson red dress, the extra fabric around my petite hips adding the illusion of curves. My legs did look alright in this dress.

"Thanks. . . I think." I shrugged.

Embry said goodnight a couple more times as an excuse to blatantly check me out until I finally had to shove him out of the door.

"Paul just does not know what he's missing out on." He groaned before relenting.

Boys will be pigs.

/-*-\

Three weeks. It had been three whole weeks and Paul was still avoiding me. The last term of the year was coming up fast so I was rather busy preparing project after project and prepping for my calculus final. Apparently Forks spring's snuck up on people. One minute it was sleeting the next it was back to raining. It made for a rather awkward switching of my season's wardrobe. The job at the photography place in Port Angeles was still holding up and Mr. Horan even gave me my own set of keys. Having a darkroom available literally twenty four seven did wonders for a girl. Danie and not-so-little Seth were still going. It had to be a new record for her. Every time I teased her about it she wouldn't get defensive. . . in fact she became the opposite. She would melt into a big ball of teenage hormones and goo.

Not to say they didn't have rough patches. No, no they break up regularly. In the beginning they broke up three or four times a day. The difference, at least for Danie, was that she would always come back.

"Seth's it." She insisted.

It was a fact. Oranges are orange, the Cullen's are vampires and Seth is it for Danie. Not necessarily in order of importance of course. Speaking of the Cullen's, they had taken to disappearing a lot. It was very rare to see them in full force at school. And when they came they were distracted. So was Embry actually, he rarely had time to sleep anymore forget hang out. Every conversation with him was punctuated a yawn and an excuse for what was keeping him so occupied. I now had a sizable picture collection of an unconscious Embry. He never ran out of reasons as to why the big oaf was avoiding me. And as much as I hated to admit it, I missed Paul like an amputee misses a lost limb.

"Where are you Paul. . ." A sigh escaped my lips.

The news barely mentioned the missing and death toll of the Seattle murders. The count of those missing or found dead, had slowed until it finally stopped. Whoever the serial killer or killers were, they were done. My theory was the Cullen's were on a human kick, they were vampires of course. Vampires who couldn't do much foodwise in Forks. It also explained their frequent disappearances. They were probably driving down there and picking up dinner.

"You okay these days kid?" Mr. Horan asked.

I looked up from the negatives I had been half-heartedly examining.

"Something like that." I managed a smile.

The truth was, I wasn't okay. Nothing was right. Paul was ignoring me, Danie was either a nutcase with a smile or a nut case with a 'broken heart', Embry was hiding something, Kim dropped off the face of the planet and I was still getting used to the fact that vampires existed. And I don't know what hurt more, that my mother's birthday was coming up or that Paul was ignoring me.

"Why don't you take off early? You look like you gotta lot on your mind." Mr. H interrupted my thoughts.

I shuffled to put all the negatives back in their sleeves but the frown was still firmly on my face. Going home early wouldn't do anything for me. I needed to distract myself from all the junk floating around inside my head. For some reason it was worse today.

"I'll see you next week." He waved goodbye.

I waved back and drove home, barely noticing the ride. Kim called by the time I got out of the car, it was the first time I'd heard from her in weeks.

"Kimmy." I hissed.

"I know, I know! Don't be mad! Can I come over?" I could practically see her timid smile.

"You have fifteen minutes." I groaned.

True to her word Kim was at my doorstep in fifteen minutes, with a huge smile and a box of Girl Scout cookies. Damn you Kim, thin mints are my weakness.

"I still hate you. Now come inside and start groveling." I said through a mouthful of cookies.

Of course I wasn't serious but grovel she did. Kim tried to apologize numerous times and I wouldn't let her. We were friends and she got a bit too caught up with the love her life. It wasn't that big of a deal.

"I hear you know all about the Cullen's." I smiled, casually popping another thin mint in my mouth.

"Shit Di, I tried to tell you. I mean you go to school with them! But Jared wouldn't let me. None of them would. All because Paul doesn't have the balls to tell you about the spi-" Kim suddenly faltered.

"What won't Paul tell me?" I narrowed my eyes at her as she tried to shove food in her mouth.

"I wanna tell you Di but Paul's gonna kill me if I do." Her words were muffled under cookies and Mountain Dew.

"Kim you better tell me or I'll kill you. I'm from Boston remember?" I smiled sweetly.

"Diiiiiii! You know I can't lie to you." She looked so nervous and guilty, I almost felt bad.

"Kim." Almost.

"Okay! Okay fine! Um...uh," She stalled, "there's a reason why the Quileute tribe knows about the Cullen's."

"Well yeah, they wrote the treaty." I blinked.

"But the legend has two parts to it." Kim fidgeted some more.

I furrowed my brow. What the hell was she talking about?

"What is up with everyone in the damn state and their cryptic ass answers! Just spit out whatever you need to spit out, stop with all these fucking riddles and double meanings." I cried out.

"Sorry. I really have to go now, I've already said too much. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?" Kim's eyes were glued to her shoes and when I didn't give her an answer she slowly walked out of my room.

Great. Another pity friend.

Before I could properly cry about my lack of friends and knowledge, the door to my bedroom door was flung open and in walked none other than Paul Lahote. I stared at him for a full minute, jaw dropped. It was an illusion. It had to be.

"Your aunt let me in. Close your mouth or do something with it." He snapped smartly.

I jumped up as if a bomb went off in my stomach, which it kind of did. A bomb of rage. This was no mirage.

"Get the fuck out of my room!" I shoved him as hard as I could.

"Aww come on, you don't mean that baby." He stood there like a rock.

I don't hear from this asshole for weeks and suddenly he's barging into my house, my room like its nothing? I wasn't just angry, I was livid. My blood was lava and not the slow moving kind, it was pure pahoehoe (volcanoe terms ftw).

"I hate you!" I screamed after pushing and pushing until my arms and legs gave out.

I slid down to the floor, holding back tears of frustration until I couldn't take it anymore. I buried my face in my knees and cried. For Paul and my mother, who would have turned 32 if I hadn't killed her and everything that was wrong lately.

"Hey, hey, hey." Paul squatted down to my height and pulled me into a hug.

But I was a fire hydrant, sobbing and spurting non-stop. All the thoughts swimming in my head and my mother's birthday and my PMS just kept pumping fresh tears. Paul sat down after a few minutes and I pulled him closer until we were pressed right up against each other. I kept my face buried in his chest. It was one thing to cry and slobber all over his shirt, it was another to let him see me cry. Eventually the tears stopped coming and I was left plastered against Paul with a pounding headache and a bad case of hiccups.

"I hate it when girls cry." He mumbled into my hair.

Paul's arms were wrapped around my waist and his chin was rested on my chin. I was curled up in his lap, my face pressed to his sternum. I could hear his heart beating a very slow "thump thump thump". It matched mine perfectly, even during the crying feat, something I was all too aware of. How ironic that Paul, with all his charm and rugged looks, hated to see girls cry. How many girls had shed tears over him? How many had desired his affections, only to receive a few nights of pleasure and attention?

"You make girls cry all the time." I whispered.

"I hate it when you cry."

Silence. I traced each ventricle and aorta of Paul's with my fingertips. This heart, this fist sized muscle that pumped blood and kept the beautiful boy holding me alive . . could I let myself believe it? Could I let myself believe Paul?

"What's going on in that head of yours?" He asked.

"Vampires, a dead mother and you." I giggled hoarsely.

"I came cause I had to tell you something." He said after our laughter died down.

I nodded for him to continue.

"In a few days something big is gonna happen. You remember those murders in Seattle? Those were all done by vampires." Paul's tone was grave and there were butterflies in my stomach for an all too unpleasant reason.

"Yeah, the Cullens right?" I confirmed.

"No," I stiffened at his response, "rogue vampires. They aren't just killing humans, they're turning them. They're building an army of newborns. A vampire is called a newborn when they are first turned, they are their most powerful in this stage."

I struggled to wrap my head around this flood of information. An army of vampires? Not just regular old vampires but crazy ones?

"The army is coming here. They're after someone, they're after Bella."

Images of creatures bent over snapped necks with blood flowing freely came to mind. The death toll, the missing. . . all of those people were walking around with a fresh set of fangs. All of them were going to be here in a few days.

"What's gonna happen?"

"Nothing. But I need you to stop taking these walks around the woods, don't stay out too late, don't go to work in Port Angeles. Just go straight to school and straight home. Don't talk to anyone, don't look at anyone. They might try to blend in." Paul instructed.

"Paul you have to call the police or national guard, the army. . .someone." I whispered fiercely.

A couple vamps in town was bad but a freaking army of them, all after Bella?

"No. And you can't tell anyone Di." Paul shoved me off his lap and stood up.

I drew myself up to full height.

"Paul how is Bella gonna survive? How are we gonna survive? The Cullen's can't protect her and an entire town! We could be slaughtered." I tried reasoning with him.

"This isn't your secret to tell." He spat.

Emotions were running through me like an electrical current but mostly I felt hurt. Paul was so comforting and kind one second, then he turned into this giant dickhole the next.

"What're you gonna do? Stop talking to me again? You hide everything from me anyways. I had to do everything on my own. Everyone says you should be the one to tell me." I retorted, my voice dripping with annoyance.

"Diana." He sighed, running a hand through his midnight locks.

"Paul." I mocked, shifting my stance.

"You don't want any part of this. Can't you see, I'm doing this to protect you? Last time you got involved you almost died." He groaned.

"You're right I did almost die. Don't you think I deserve to know why?" I pleaded with him.

He took a few steps towards me and pulled me into a hug. I held him back as tightly as I could but I knew what would happen.

"I have to go. Just please be careful." He whispered into my ear.

"Leave, okay Paul? And this time don't come back." I replied numbly.

/-*-\

School the next day was hard. I made up some lousy excuse for my red rimmed eyes and lazy attire. I had work after school but I ended up calling in sick. As much as Paul pissed me off, I wasn't suicidal enough to go gallivanting around Forks with this impending 'invasion' so to speak.

"You've got an awfully deep frown." Edward's voice came out of nowhere in Chemistry and I nearly screamed.

His golden eyes crinkled into a smile and I gave him a look of slight annoyance.

"You've gotten awfully annoying since I last saw you." I replied flatly.

"You've gotten awfully brave since I last saw you." Edward's smile was still there but his voice was a bit colder.

I flinched and he noticed, backing away to give me some space. The Cullens were vampires, that much of the mystery was solved. But I couldn't help but feel like there was still. . . more.

"I didn't mean to frighten you. Come sit with us at lunch. . . Bella misses you." His tone softened considerably and he left after I agreed.

They were vampires and I was terrified. . . but curious as well. I stayed true to my word and told Danie I'd meet up with her after lunch, grabbing a salad and parking myself at the Cullen table.

"Di!" A look of pure relief was on Bella's face.

I gave her a small smile but it fell when I got a proper look at the rest of the table. Jasper, Edward and Rosalie were the only occupants today. They were sporting their usual unearthly beauty but I noticed their eyes had gone from a glittering gold to a dark, muddy brown. Their skin looked even more pale in comparison.

"You guys look horrible." I blurted out.

"And this is coming from the human." Rosalie snorted.

I bit back a laugh.

"How's the whole newbie vampire army situation?" I asked offhandedly.

They all visibly stiffened and Edward shot me a deadly look. I guess it was a sore topic for them. Woops.

"I'm sorry I didn't know..." I amended.

"No it's alright. We're taking it fine. We've got everything under control." Bella sounded rather confident and I took it as a good sign.

"How do you guys plan to do this, if you don't mind my asking?"

"We've got those mutts helping us." Rosalie wrinkled her nose.

Mutts?

"Ah-ah Rose... she doesn't know." Edward shook his head.

"But I thought she was that dog's imprint-"

"Did you know Jasper fought in the civil war?" Bella cut Rosalie off.

I paused for a bit before taking the bait and diving into the conversation. Apparently Jasper had dealt with newborn's before and even raised armies of them in the south. His ability to control emotions, no surprise there, had helped immensely. He was also training the rest of the family in fighting newborns.

"Controlling emotions! What else could it have been?" I mumbled in understanding.

"Sorry about that." Jasper gave me his most charming smile.

"Do all...vampires have abilities like that?"

Apparently not. It was selective in the kinds of abilities and who would get them. While Jasper could control emotions, Edward could read other's thoughts; it was an absolutely mortifying when he proved it. I turned beet red as he groaned in pain.

"Paul? Naked? Of all the things you could picture!" He rubbed his eyes viciously as we all erupted into another round of laughter.

Alice could glimpse into the future, something I literally never saw coming.

"Can she tell me what's in my future?" I asked.

After the embarrassing demonstration of Edward's mind reading capabilities I pretty much believed what they said. Even if they told me Emmet's power was turning blue.

"Yours is blocked by those pesky wolv-"

"Rosalie!" Edward hissed.

"What? She'll find out eventually. Maybe then she'll stop acting like we're the only monsters in town." She replied coldly.

"It's none of our business. Respect their privacy Rosalie." He wasn't fazed by her tone at all.

Rosalie terrified me but Edward talked back to her like it was nothing. The bell rang, signifying the end of lunch, and I mumbled an excuse about art class before bolting out of my seat. Just when I thought this family couldn't get any weirder...

And Danie continued this trend of oddity throughout art class. She kept asking if I had figured it out yet. I had no clue what this "it" she was alluding to was.

"Diana did you even read the book?" She finally snapped.

"Yes!" I shouted back.

Frustration and guilt was evident on her face. She spent a few seconds debating in hushed tones with herself before finally reaching a decision.

"Screw it."

Danie grabbed her bag and mine before yanking me out of the room. I tried I wrench my hand out of her grip but it was useless. Danie could be really strong when she wanted, as tiny as she was. And Ms. Hardwicke didn't even blink, she just took another drag from her "electronic cigarette" and let us walk out.

"We're going to the Pack house." Danie stopped us in front of my car and threw my bag at me.

"Pack House? What the hell is that?" I fumble with the straps.

"I mean Emily and Sam's place." She corrected.

I unlocked the doors and watched Danie toss her bag onto the seat and then toss herself on top of it. She was fuming.

"Ohhhhkay then." I mumbled, starting the car anyway.

It didn't surprise me too much. Danie was constantly on another level, buzzing with energy. And when she put her mind to something, it was like being caught up in the sun's gravitational pull. There was absolutely nothing you could do except go along with it.

"Why couldn't this wait again?" I sighed, pulling into the gravel driveway.

I noticed Paul's bike was outside, along with a couple others. Which meant Paul was inside. We hopped out of the car but made no move to go towards the porch.

"Because you need to know the truth. Listen carefully alright? We don't have much time." Danie was staring at the house wearily.

There was some movement behind the curtains and shouting could be heard coming from inside the house.

"Okay this is like the night you told me about the Cullens. This is me swearing I'm not criminally insane or anything." Danie was wringing her tiny hands nervously.

"Oh my god Danie you get nervous? This is brand new." This girl had nerves of steel and confidence like no other.

Needless to say it was shocking. But not as shocking as what she was about to say.

"There's no other way for me say this except to just come out and say it. The Quileute tribe has werewolves. Or rather spirit warriors. You remember the legends? The tribe has a select few who were born with a gene that turns them into these gigantic wolves. And they're huge! I mean like h-u-g-e. Enormous okay? And they can turn whenever they want but if you piss them off they phase without thinking." Danie began spewing all these words at me, her mouth moving a mile a minute and her hands flying everywhere.

High energy holy hell.

"Slow down, slow down!" I begged her.

Danie stopped talking and gulped in air, waving her jittery hands in front of her.

"Okay. Okay. We're good." She reassured herself.

I heard a loud cracking noise and turned towards the house. The front door was literally off its hinges, landing in a splintered heap nearly 10 feet away. A furious Paul came stomping out of the house followed by a conga line of shirtless guys. The whole gang was present and accounted for, Kim included. Seth ran towards Danie, pulling her to him and behind me before I could blink. Jared hung back with Kim, not allowing her to approach us.

"Jared, let go of me!" Kim fought his grip but he shook his head.

Emily materialized next to me, placing a hand on my shoulder to pull me back. From what? Why was Jared holding Kim and Seth protecting Danie and Emily "saving" me? Because of Paul La-prick's temper tantrum? I shook Emily off me and placed my hands on my hips, ready to give him a verbal smack down.

"You had no right to tell her!" Paul roared.

All the confidence in me was gone. Paul was beyond pissed and Jacob and Sam shoved him back. Danie and Seth were slowly making their way towards the house; Paul's eyes were glued to Danie's every movement and I shivered at the possibility that Paul could do some damage. He was simply that angry. And once Danie was frighteningly close to the door my heart leaped out of its cavity and lodged itself into my throat, warning me that something big and bad was about to happen. I shot out of Emily's grip and made for Danie.

"Paul, no!"

I swiveled my head back to see him shaking with anger before turning towards Danie. I grabbed her roughly by her arm and dragged her towards the inside of the house. We made it through threshold and I realized there was no door for us to hide behind.

"Look Di! This is it." Danie grabbed me by my cheeks and forced me to look outside.

Paul was there, shaking, angry and shirtless. The next second he wasn't. In his place was something I'd ever seen. All muscle and fur, towering over Sam and Jacob. But I blinked and Sam and Jacob were no more either, both were replaced by equally massive, if not more, furry and fangy things. Shreds of cloth flew into the wind like newspaper clippings and I watched them float against the gray and green backdrop of La Push, Washington. Jared grabbed Kim and Emily and shoved them behind my car. But the hatchback would do little to protect them from the creatures before them. Unless Jared could rip his shirt off and became one of those things, which he did not half a second later. I barely registered the booming footsteps and Embry's voice beside me

"Oh shit." He murmured, running a hand through his gnarled locks.

My eyes rolled to the back of my head and gravity pulled me down.

What. The. Fuck.

**A/n: **

**Heading back to NY in a few days. Packing absolutely sucks!**

**xx**

**L**


	12. Chapter 12

**So much has happened since we last saw each other. Hurricane Sandy (scary), the election, Thanksgiving (happy thanksgiving to all my American readers) and Black Friday (intense). **

**I've been home for a week now for break so, as you can imagine, I don't wanna go back to school. :( **

**Never the less, enjoy the update! **

chapter twelve: aftermath

Paul Lahote

I was in deep shit. And it was all because I didn't tell Di the truth. The night she told me to never come back was torture enough. I wanted nothing more than the complete opposite, especially after holding her. I guess I was a possessive imprint. I avoided her for weeks, thinking that would solve my problems, but I always felt her. Diana's pain and hurt, sleeplessness and fright, the anger towards me and towards herself. I always felt it. Finding out about the newborn army and its imminent arrival was the breaking point. I had to protect her but I couldn't tell her everything. As much as I didn't want to admit it, it wasn't about the sex or the girls or the freedom. That changed when I opened her sketchbook and I saw her amazing talent capturing that horrible scene. I refused to be a catalyst in her already fucked up life. Finding your imprint meant finding your other half. The person who completes you. I was the worst imprint possible, there was nothing good I could do for Diana. I would bring her into a world of death and danger, she had gone through enough in her life. Diana was an amazing person and simply put, she deserved better than me. Me being an egotistical asshole and recovering nymphomaniac. And maybe I wasn't strong enough to change or become better for her, maybe I wasn't strong enough to do anything remotely positive for this beautiful girl. But I could be strong enough to walk away. I wasn't going to be selfish. After losing her mother and father, she deserved a life without death or ugliness. She deserved to be happy.

Imagine how I felt, overhearing Seth say his little imprint told Diana the truth. I couldn't remember much before I phased, because I couldn't control my anger. But I hadn't been black-out-pissed for a year. I did remember everything after I phased because as soon as I went wolf a tidal wave of pure terror hit me. To the point where I faltered, nearly passing out.

"Diana! Diana, wake up!" Embry's voice was crystal clear in my ears.

The anger wasn't important anymore, Jacob and Sam weren't important anymore. Everything faded to the background except for the unconscious Diana Byrne. I phased back and ran towards her, as naked as the day I was born.

"Let go, let me go." I tried to push past the arms holding me back.

"No Paul. It's for your safety and her's." Emily's soothing voice did little to calm me down.

After a few minutes of struggling against nearly the entire pack, Sam put an end to it.

"Kneel."

And if it had been anyone else I would've punched their face in. But it was Sam and more importantly, it was an alpha command. I dropped to my knees, head bowed in submission.

"You are not to speak to Diana until she is fully awake and conscious. Not a word." Sam said quietly, but the authority was still there and I knew no matter how much I tried I wouldn't be able to speak to her.

Embry carried her out of the room and Sam left with Emily, presumably to get dressed, mumbling the words "disastrous" the entire team.

Disaster didn't cut it.

/-*-\

Diana Deirdre Byrne

Do you ever have those dreams, where you know you're dreaming but you can't seem to wake up? You try and try but your eyes don't open. The first time I passed out because of Paul's shenanigans, shenanigans meaning his suicide mission into the woods, I had no idea what was going on when I woke up and I had to have him fill me in afterwards. The second time it was a little different. I dreamt of him bursting into that horrible, gruesome creature and slowly stalking over to where I had been standing, near the busted down door. From man to wolf. His black lips were pulled back to reveal razor sharp teeth dipped in froth and blood. His new ears were flattened to his fuzzy skull and his belly was pressed to the dirt. His obsidian eyes, black and hard, were focused on me. The rational part of me said it was a dream and I could wake up. The other part knew I was going to die and it was going to be painful. The wolf lowered himself to the ground, paws in front, ready to leap. This thing was nearly two tons if his teeth and claws didn't shred me to itty bitty pieces, he would simply crush me to death.

One...

Now's a good time to wake up Di.

Two...

Seriously.

Three.

Hail Mary thrice, my eyes snapped open and I shot out of sleep.

"Diana?" A voice said.

I recognized it as Paul and immediately scrambled out of the sheets, attempting to make a run for it. Before I could reach the door, something slammed me against the wall and held me there, my wrists high above my head.

"Don't. Move." His breath fanned out against my cheek and I closed my eyes, holding back tears.

Paul loosened his tight grip on my wrists and spread his hands out against my palm, slowly dragging them down until his hands reached my thighs, which he cupped lightly.

"Are you scared?" He whispered.

I nodded once, highly aware of my erratic breathing.

"Are you scared of me?" Paul repeated.

I hesitated this time. Was I scared of Paul? The answer should have obviously been yes. I had seen him turn into a horrendous beast, with fangs and claws. But was I truly scared Paul would hurt me, as he were now?

"You should be scared." His words were thick.

He took a small step away to let me breathe and I bunched my hands behind my back to stop myself from reaching out to him. I was almost disgusted, how could I be thinking of my attraction towards him at a time like this?

"Y-you're not human." I mumbled.

"Yes." The way he said it, so frank and accepting, disturbed me.

I looked at the the door, it was about four feet away. If I jumped I could proba-

"Don't even think about it. Now that you know the little tribe secret, I don't have to hold back anymore." But the smile on his face was sad.

Apparently bursting into a fifty foot fucking wolf was exclusive to the Quileute tribe. The words from the book of legends came back and I remembered the importance of wolves in their tribe. Hell, it even said they were descendants of a wolf. But I never took it literally.

"Who else?" I croaked.

"Jared, Seth, Jacob, Leah, Embry, little Brady and Sam. Sam's pack leader of course." He ticked off.

My heart dropped at the mention of Seth, Jared and Embry. Did Kim know? Or Danie? And me...spending all my time with Embry and never knowing. That's probably what hurt the most. How could he have not told me? Paul keeping secrets was something I was used to, but not Embry.

"Why didn't you say anything? All this fucking time, why didn't any of you say anything?"

"Oh yeah, I'll just casually mention the fact that I'm a werewolf right after I finish introducing you to the mummies down the street." He rolled his eyes.

"You think this funny? Huh? Think this is some kind of joke?" I narrowed my eyes.

"No I don't. That's why I didn't tell you Di. You don't understand the kind of danger you knowing all this poses." Paul snapped.

"I had a right to know! I almost died that night..." I froze.

The woman in the woods, she had been chased by wolves. It couldn't be a coincidence.

"Yes, that was me that night." He answered my unvoiced question.

"What other lies have you been feeding me?"

"I'm trying to protect you Diana." He whispered.

"You know what, I never asked you to protect me. So if you wanna keep lying, go right on ahead but don't use protecting me as your pathetic excuse. Fuck you Paul." I spat, effectively ending the conversation.

I rushed out of the room, slamming into someone on my way out.

"Whoa, whoa. What's wrong?" Embry held me up gently.

I wanted to grab him and burst into girlish tears but as soon as I saw Embry, I felt sick. My stomach started turning and I pushed him away, reaching for a vase.

"Fuck you too!" I lobbed the vase as hard as I could and watched it burst into a million pieces against the wall behind him.

"Diana!" Embry sounded shocked.

Good, now he knows how I felt when I found out he lied. I grabbed a picture frame and tried again, this time hitting him square in the arm. A few larger shards of glass were lodged in his big bicep and I saw him pick them out with ease. This time when my stomach turned, it didn't stop until I was spewing on some poor potted plant in the corner. I heaved until there was nothing coming out except for bitter bile and hot tears.

What a beautiful way to end a messy night.

/-*-\

Everyone was gathered in the living room, dutifully ignoring the broken glass and puke filled hallway. Including someone I had never seen before, a girl. She had a permanent scowl on her face but even with that I could tell she was beautiful, more like a model than anything. They had all taken turns explaining and profusely apologizing for the emotional stress they put me through. Everyone except the new girl, who was scowling a little less now and staring at me curiously a little more. But I was never good at hearing apologies so I waved them away and continued cradling the mug of hot chocolate made lovingly by Em.

"So. . . you're all werewolves and you protect the towns' people from vampires and things that go bump in the night?" I asked slowly.

"Shifters. They're different from werewolves." Emily corrected gently.

I wanted to roll my eyes at her, did the details really matter? But instead I found myself turning my usual shade of red. Paul's dark eyes were watching me intently from across the room.

"But you guys don't. . . kill. You protect."

"The only thing we do kill are blood suckers." Sam said gently.

I nodded to show understanding. Hypothetically speaking, it made sense. The gears were shifting slowly in my mind. Vampires were bad, with the exception of the Cullen's, and Shifters were good, with the exception of that douchebag Paul.

"So you guys killed the vampire lady in the woods that day?" I smiled, feeling a little more reassured.

If they really were murderous werewolf shifters, why had they saved me that night when they could have easily killed me or left me for dead? It all made sense in theory but I couldn't shake the fear. I was in a room with people who weren't. . . people.

"Not quite. We chased her up to Canada but she's got a knack for being found only when she wants to be." Sam sighed.

"She's still alive?" I said horrified.

"You're safe. Relax. It's not you she wants. . . it's Bella." I stumbled over Sam's words.

I already knew Bella was the target, Paul had told me. But it seemed that my red headed almost-killer was also an army raiser.

/-*-\

Paul Lahote

For someone who had gone ballistic a few hours ago, Diana sure was collected. I mean the girl was firing question after question, especially after discovering that the same bitch we came across in the woods was after Bella.

"And you all plan to fight. . .with the Cullen's?" She asked.

Sam reluctantly said yes, wary of her reaction. But she seemed eerily content with it, making no comments, and we all held our breaths.

"I'm tired." She whispered.

I visibly sagged, a frown immediately placed on my face? What had I been been expecting? Diana rose up from her seat and the spell was lifted. Everyone began cleaning up or heading off for patrol or, if they were lucky, went to bed. I watched her quietly as she helped clean up the hallway, apologized to Emily for causing such a mess and called her aunt to feed her some lame excuse about losing track of time while working with Danie on an art project. Her face was deadpan, emotionless. But the imprint said otherwise, she flooded my senses with restlessness and unease. Her cool, collected manner fooled everyone except me.

/-*-\

Diana Deirdre Byrne

A newborn army, numbers unknown. If the massacres in Seattle were anything to go by there were dozens of them. But with their strength they only needed a handful to overwhelm us. I wanted to snort at the fact that I was thinking in terms of 'them' and 'us' but it was true. I was involved now because of everything I knew. The coward in me wanted to say I wasn't involved and that I should stay out of it. But even if I did, I would still end up dead. I was left with the impression that to go up against the newborns was suicide. A couple of dogs and some vegetarian vampires against death machines. They would be slaughtered and then they would come after the rest of us.

"I told my aunt we were together." I kept the disgust to a minimum when I saw Danie eyeing Seth.

"I'm sleeping over here." She snapped her head away and bit her lip nervously.

"Your welcome to stay here Diana." Emily smiled warmly.

But I declined. There was no way I could spend the night here. Sam offered to drop me off in a few hours so I helped Emily cook while she explained some more things to me. Random things like patrol, which explained Embry's sleep issues, and her scar. I had always wanted to ask but I figured it wasn't my business and if she had wanted me to know, I would've.

"He lost. . .control." I repeated flatly.

"You have to understand that being a spirit warrior is different than being a regular old human like you and I. Their phasing is centered around a single emotion, anger. You piss them off enough, boom. You're dealing with a giant wolf. That's why they have to keep their emotions under tight wraps. If they don't things get messy, quick." She continued dicing the basil.

"Okay." I nodded.

It explained why Paul had gone from moody teenager to ferocious beast yesterday.

"Take Paul for example, he has to work double time cause he's always been a hothead. It's part of his nature to get angry quickly. So naturally, when he phased it was quite hard. But you'd be amazed at how far he's come. I'm very proud of him. He's grown a lot these past two years." She murmured.

Emily was clearly a mother figure. And like all mother's she was completely blind to her children's faults. Including Paul's attitude and tendency to fuck anything with a pulse. I kept quiet and we resumed cooking. The next shift for patrol was soon and I was on wake up duty. The food was for those coming in and those leaving. I couldn't believe this entire system had existed under my nose. I mean, there were giant wolves prancing around protecting me from blood sucking demons every single night. And I had no idea.

I took a deep breath and opened the door to Embry's room.

"Hey, get up." I prodded him quietly but he continued snoring.

"Embry! Get your fat ass up." I shoved him harder.

A hand shot out and pulled me under him. Then he rolled over, crushing my ribcage. I groaned and tried to push myself out but he started laughing.

"Payback's a bitch." He yawned right in my face, sour breath and all.

He let me go eventually and I threw myself out of his bed. If the asshole thought he was getting an apology now, he was wrong. I stalked out of the room, giving him a one finger salute. The couples were next which meant I had to walk in on a very embarrassed Kim who was curled up against Jared.

"Patrol." I whispered to her before turning on my heel and carefully closing the door.

Before I shut it completely I saw Kim trace a finger down his face and whisper something in his ear. I couldn't stop the face splitting smile from coming onto my face. She looked absolutely. . . radiant. The smiled doubled in size when I walked in on Seth sprawled out on Danie's lap. She was sitting up, asleep, her hands in his locks. I almost didn't want to disturb them. Almost.

"Patrol time love birds." I kicked the bed and left the room before Danie could throw a pillow at me.

I came to the final room, it belonged to the moody girl from earlier. Emily told me her name was Leah and I desperately wanted to ask what crawled up her ass and died but my barely-there manners stopped me from doing so. Leah was beautiful but damn she could scare you with a look. I stood in front of her door for a full minute, working up the courage to open it. Something told me she wouldn't take kindly to being waken up. But I took a deep breath and opened it anyway.

"Nice to see you finally grew the balls to open the door. What was that, five minutes you spent looming over the door?" Leah walked right past me with a derisive snort.

She was scary. But I wasn't a wuss. If I could handle vampires and werewolves, I could handle her. Sam, Jake and He Who Shall Not Be Named came lumbering in just as I bounded downstairs. Sam and Jacob paused to watch Paul avoiding my eye contact before I shoved past him towards the dining room. The air had suddenly kicked up a few degrees and I was seeing red.

"Diana thank you so much for helping me cook. These guys are eating me through house and home." Emily said gratefully, already seated at the table.

I gave her a tiny smile and accepted my prepared plate, as if she would let me say no.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay, at least long enough to eat?" Emily repeated.

"I really just wanna get home." I insisted.

What I really meant was I really wanna get as far away from here as possible. The reality of the situation was dawning on me. Nearly everyone in this house could shift into enormous wolves. And Emily was living proof of just how dangerous it was. I could only put up this front for so long. By the time Sam dropped me off, I was shaking so hard it took me a full minute to unlock the door.

"Damn it." I choked out, sliding back against the door.

Simply living in this town was tempting death.

/-*-\

I quite literally dragged myself to school for the next week. My days were spent half asleep, drooling on top of my desks, assignments, lunches and sketch books. My nights were much more difficult. I would fall asleep only to be rudely awakened by nightmares so disgusting and horrifying, I would wake up in a cold sweat and sit, paralyzed with fear until the sun came up. I pumped myself with coffee until I crashed on my bed and started the process all over.

"Are you okay kiddo?" Debra asked one morning, looking from the large coffee in my shaking hands to the equally large bags under my eyes.

"Fine." I clipped out.

I was far from fine. I was slowly coming apart. Every time I closed my eyes I immediately pictured a wolf, leaning over me with its teeth bared. The creature's eyes bore into mine uncomfortably, looking oddly human, while sticky, crimson blood dripped down from its wet chin onto my face. The weight of it's body crushed me and I could hardly catch my breath, it felt so real. I always woke up before the wolf chomped my face off but my nightmares were getting progressively worse, more realistic each night.

"Jasper, I need your help." I flagged down the little vamp after school was out.

He gave me a curious look, after all I had been avoiding them for so long especially after the whole lunch fiasco.

"What do you need help with, darling?" He asked, his normally charming southern accent sounded harsh.

But then I saw his eyes soften as he took in my appearance. Sheesh, I knew I was a little rough around the edges but did he have to look at me like I was Olive freaking Twist? I hated pity. It was a bit of hubris on my part.

"So you'll help me?" I confirmed.

"I never agreed to help you, I only asked what you needed help with." He clarified.

Ugh stupid careful wording.

"I haven't spent a century or so under a rock y'know." Jasper gave me a little smirk.

"I've been having. . . nightmares. Which kind of explains all of this, " waving hand around my face, "I want you to take away my fear. And replace it or whatever it is you do."

He paused and then looked at me with pure pity.

"You know what? Never mind." I huffed, turning to walk away from him.

But he yanked me back with ease and fixed me with his usual smile.

"I didn't say I wouldn't help. Keep your window open tonight, I'll drop by." Jasper ruffled my probably greasy hair before walking away.

For the first time in a while I smiled.

/-*-\

Later that night, I prepared myself for bed how I usually did when I knew I would have a nightmare. I spread out various blankets and pillows on the ground, in case I rolled off, and left a single thin sheet on the bed. My pajamas were more modest than normal but other than that I stuck to my routine. Jasper was waiting quietly in the corner of my room.

"What are your nightmares about?" He asked.

"Wolves." I whispered the word reluctantly, as if just saying it would somehow summon the creature into my room.

"You know the deal Diana. I'm gonna sit here and observe. When the time comes I'll intervene." Jasper gave me a small smile before he settled into a chair.

I carefully lay on my back, spread eagle. Sure enough the glow in the dark stickers on my ceiling started wobbling and fading in and out of focus before my limbs became like lead and the neon stars vanished completely. It felt like I had spent only a minute in darkness before I snapped my eyes open and saw it again.

Right on time. The wolf was holding me down again, nearly crushing my ribs in the process and I gasped for air. It truly felt as though I couldn't breath. I struggled underneath the beast, trying to escape from its death ridden stench and the steady drip of blood upon my face. I tried begging god, Paul, anyone who would listen for help but it never came. Eventually something shook me awake and I opened my eyes, in real life this time, peering up into Jasper's golden ones.

He pushed me back down when I tried to sit up.

"You're not just scared Di. . .you're on the verge of a panic attack." His words barely registered in my mind.

I rubbed my arms, feeling extremely cold even if the sheets were sweat soaked. I wanted to snap at him but my eyes were drooping already. I fought to stay awake, knowing what would be waiting for me if I closed my eyes.

"Make it stop, please." I begged him, half asleep.

Right before my vision became black I was hit with a wave of euphoria. My muscles relaxed and I melted back into my bed. It was pure bliss. But all good things must come to an end.

"Wake up." Jasper shook me out of slumber.

I reluctantly opened my eyes. The sun was just beginning to rise meaning I slept for only a few hours. Still, this was the first real rest I had in a week. And my body was thanking me for it.

"Are you feeling okay?" He asked, eyeing me cautiously as I swung my legs over the edge of my bed.

"That was the best sleep I've ever had. I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am." I smiled widely.

Jasper did it. He actually took away my nightmares. I could finally have my sleep and life back. I had never been more happy to be awake.

"Don't thank me at all. I'm sorry but last night was temporary. I can't help you." He said slowly.

I felt my face crumble and my posture deflate.

"Temporary, what do you mean?"

"I can't take away your fear. It's just too deep, too much. I can influence the way someone feels but your fear is...it's nearly hysterical. You're the only one who can take it away." Jasper's words fell on deaf ears.

Whatever feeling of relief I had was gone and I curled up my shaking hands into equally shaking fists.

"You have to face your fears Diana. That's the only way it will work." Jasper grasped my shoulders firmly, trying to get me to look at him.

But my eyes were unseeing.

"Get out." I whispered.

Jasper was hurt, I knew he was. But I closed my eyes, trying to ignore him and the fat tears that rolled down my cheeks. There was a small gust of air and the sound of birds chirping was louder. I opened my eyes to find my window open and Jasper, my last hope, was gone.

**A/n: **

**Paul will be making an appearance next chapter. That should be fun. Wish me luck with finals. :) **

**Xx **

**L **


	13. Chapter 13

**Happy New Years/Valentines Day. If that doesn't show how long ago the last update was I don't know what will lol. **

Chapter thirteen: Running

Another nightmare. And another. And another. Each nightmare came with a frantic missed call from Paul, asking me if I was okay. I refused to speak with him and I distanced myself from Danie. My energy was almost nonexistent but I poured all my pain into art. Somehow the obsessive drawing of wolves wasn't enough to keep the actual wolf out of my dreams. Jasper spent a few nights with me, keeping the fear at bay but an hour or two of rest was hardly enough to keep me functioning. But it was all I had, so I stumbled out of bed to face another day. Throwing on a rumpled sweater and jeans, I prepared myself for another day of dozing off.

"You've got to stop this. You're killing yourself." Jasper squeezed my hand tightly.

I pulled away from him and gave him a tight smile. He didn't understand that to face my fear was to get myself killed. Or at the very least seriously injured. It wasn't facing my fear so much as it was committing suicide.

"Can you come over today?" Jasper asked quietly, interrupting my thoughts.

"I don't do things for free you know." I joked, happy that we had moved on from the previous subject.

It was kind of odd but I had grown close with him. He watched carefully over me while I slept, both at home and in school. He was sacrificing his sleep for mine and I felt a little touched by it.

"Please?" He repeated.

I opened my mouth to say yes but the words died on my tongue. The truth was I was very uncomfortable with the thought of being in a house with vampires. Embry's words came to me, it wasn't _if_ they would attack it was when. Play with fire you'll get burned. Granted, he himself was a monster of a different kind but I digress. There was no way I could put myself in that kind of danger. I had enough nightmares on my plate. Even if I wasn't terrified of Jasper, that certainly didn't mean I could handle his siblings. Especially Rosalie, whose normally icy personality now seemed tinged with malice. Jasper's golden eyes moved back to his book, obviously sensing my hesitancy.

"It's okay." He sighed.

But he didn't have to say the rest of his sentence for me to get the gist. It's okay _for now_, meaning he expected me to get over this and get over it soon. I carefully placed my head back on the makeshift sweater/pillow and slowly closed my eyes, taking comfort in the fact that Jasper would be there when I woke up.

/-*-\

The school year was over and, after taking advantage of a few sleepless weekends to finish up final projects and essays; I could finally unwind while fulfilling Jasper's wishes. There was supposed to be a party at the Cullen's house after the Forks High School graduation ceremony and nearly every senior was invited, along with a few juniors. Jasper gave me absolutely no room to protest, there would be nearly a hundred other humans at the party, which meant my excuse was out the window. What did I have to be scared of, surrounded by so many people?

"You better be at my house in an hour otherwise you're out of Ambien for the rest of the summer." He threatened.

I gave him a weak smile. Lord knows how much I didn't want to go but I had no choice. So with a heavy heart and even heavier head I dragged myself upstairs to get changed. My cellphone was lying on the ground and I nearly crushed it with my foot, but as I bent down to scoop it up I realized it was ringing. Paul Lahote was calling me for the millionth time. Disgusted, I kicked the damn thing under my bed and started fishing for clothes to wear. But the buzzing of the phone was loud in my ears, even as I found a once form fitting scoop necked black cocktail dress to wear. It hung awkwardly on my shoulders, revealing sharp bones and pale skin, and was slightly baggy in the rear end department. I twisted from side to side, inspecting the damage. I lost a lot of weight and was now stuck with carefully imbedding safety pins into my clothes so they looked like how they were meant to.

"You look horrible Di." I grumbled, lazily applying eyeliner.

I pulled on a gold fringe necklace in an effort to hide my prominent collarbones but it did little good, especially combined with the black heels. I looked like a miserable stick. But if this is what Jasper wanted this is what he would get. I stalled for another half hour until I absolutely had to leave my house or risk getting snapped in two by the big bad vampire.

"Don't wait up Debra!" I called almost miserably.

"I won't." She giggled to herself.

It was also date night for my aunt. Fuhrer and her were apparently exclusive now. To hell if I know what that means, but apparently it involved a lot of nights spent at his place and occasional awkward morning breakfasts with the two of them. It was cute yet slightly disgusting. The Cullen house was on the opposite side of town which meant I had to speed to get there on time. There was absolutely no parking when I got there and I ended up leaving the hatchback right on their front lawn. As soon as I got out of the car, however, a very pissed Rosalie greeted me. She grabbed my arm in a bruising grip and dragged me towards the house.

"Rosalie!" I gasped, trying to pull away but she wouldn't let go stupid harpy.

Eventually Edward spotted us and gave her a deadly look.

"Rose, what're you doing?" He asked with barely contained anger.

"Just come to drop off Jasper's little pet and to let him know she parked that ugly dump truck in the middle of our yard." She fidgeted under his glare, carefully loosening her hand on mine.

I snatched my wrist back and rubbed it vigorously. I didn't have to look to know it was bruised. Jasper made his way over with Alice in tow.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Jasper hissed.

"Good to see you too brother. You should really take better care of your pets, she looks horrible." She gave him a saccharine sweet smile before flouncing away.

Edward gave Jasper a slight nod and smile before slipping back into the crowd. Some members of the Cullen family were still unsettling to be near but as I looked around and saw the large sea of people around me, all fragile and human, I let out a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay?" Jasper gently grabbed my arm and inspected the angry red marks with a frown.

"Wow, Rosalie wasn't kidding you look bad." Alice spoke up.

I shot her a look of absolute disdain. Just who the hell was she to talk? But as I took in her flawless appearance, from her pixie cut to the killer heels on her feet, I felt the confidence in me deflate.

"Rosalie thinks I'm being…bad." Jasper whispered quietly to me.

I raised a brow. What?

"Cheating on his diet." Alice reiterated and I let out a snort.

Is this what all the drama was for? They thought Jasper was feeding off me. I gave him a side hug and smile, knowing he could probably feel the waves of understanding. That is if the obnoxious, sex driven crowd of teenagers didn't block it out. But he hugged me back and I took it as a good sign. After a few drinks and awkwardly sharing Jasper as a dance partner with Alice, I gave the couple their privacy and danced with a very surprising attendee of the party.

"Danie?" I gawked at her outfit and her plus one.

Whoever he was it definitely wasn't Seth.

"I didn't know you were gonna be here." I snapped my jaw shut and fought to keep my mouth shut.

"Need I remind you how terribly small our town is." She rolled her eyes before introducing me to the guy standing next to her, his name was Paul.

But fortunately not the lying bastard. Paul number two looked really uncomfortable to be there with her if his periodical glances to the left and right said anything. Danie's manicured hand was practically glued to his. This was definitely odd.

"Why don't you get us some drinks…sweetie?" Danie turned to her date and released her hold.

He ran away as fast his legs could carry him. I raised a brow, waiting for her to elaborate.

"Ugh this is the freaking date from hell. Seth and I are going through a thing right now, I had to bully this kid into coming with me cause Seth threatened anything with a dick and balls near me. Unfortunately it seems to be working because I'm here with Paul, who by the way is openly gay and scared shitless to be seen with me!" Danie went off on a tangent before reaching into her bag and taking out a flask.

I stifled a laugh as she chugged the contents of it. This girl was really something else.

"Speaking of Paul. . .why haven't you guys made up yet?" She wiped her mouth with back of her hand before snatching a Coke can from a waiter and downing that as well.

My stomach twisted at her accusation and I avoided eye contact. I couldn't be bothered to speak with Paul, not when I was battling my insomnia.

"Look I get that you're avoiding me, I understand okay but can you please just try to talk to him? You look like absolute shit and trust me he isn't fairing any better." Danie squeezed my shoulder.

I protested but she simply pinched my lips shut before mumbling something about finding a 'piss room'. What an aggressive drunk she was. An aggressive drunk who was rather convincing. How was Paul Lahote doing these days? I wanted to yank her by her blue streaks and demand an answer. I suspected he was fucking his way through every XX chromosome in La Push, Forks and maybe even Seattle. But she hinted that he wasn't. Maybe Danie, with all her theatrics and drama, was a little too convincing. Paul was probably faking whatever she was talking about, there was no way he was sincere. Bile rose up in my throat and I felt my knees wobbling with exhaustion and hunger. When was the last time I slept or ate? I made my way to the kitchen, ignoring the burning in my stomach and throat. But the red solo cup I had in my hands crashed to the floor at the sight of the tall and tan La Push boys. This wasn't bad it was disastrous. This graduation party was turning into a 'People Diana Has Been Fiercely Avoiding' party. Immediately, a shot of adrenaline hit me and my brain was buzzing with ways to escape. But I was rooted to my spot and eventually those eyes I had painstakingly sketched and painted so many times connected with mine. A glacial fear seeped out of my bones and into my blood; it never failed to amaze me how even as I stared into the eyes of my literal nightmare, I was relieved to see him. He looked so _whole_, standing there in his standard black t-shirt and dark wash jeans. His eyes bore into mine, ignoring the hungry looks from the female population of the party.

"Sorry Jasper, this is one thing I'm not facing." I mumbled after regaining movement of my legs.

I ducked into the dance floor and writhed my way towards the stairs. The upstairs was technically off limits but an exception could be made. I crashed past the stupid police tape they had set up and took the stairs two at a time, an unimaginable feat considering the heels I had on. I blindly entered a room and before I could slam the door shut a foot wedged its way in.

"Open it." He said.

I could smell him and when I hesitated he shoved the door open himself, knocking me back on the floor. Paul loomed over me like the grim reaper and I entertained the idea of death briefly. If I did die I would see my mother and father again, that was a plus. Maybe if I asked Paul nicely...

"Get up." The order came in a soft and menacing tone.

I complied and slowly picked myself off the floor but before I could even get steady, I was slammed back against a wall.

"I hate you." Paul's mouth was right next to my ear causing my whole body to tremble.

A wince escaped my lips and I shuddered again when he leaned even closer and turned his head to face me. I focused on a spot just past his left ear and willed myself not to breathe.

"I hate your freckles and eyelashes." Paul pressed his bow shaped lips on the bridge of my nose.

My breathing spiked. What was he doing?

"I hate you too." I choked out.

He growled and dipped his head as close to my lips as possible.

"You sure about that, angel?" The cocky smile that usually graced his face was back.

I found the strength to shove him off but he tugged me right back to him.

"Why do you keep running?" He growled not letting me pull away.

There were fat tears rolling down my cheeks, staining them black with eyeliner and leaving a salty after taste on my tongue. Thoughts were going by like lightning in my mind, too fast for me to process. All I could feel was the burn in my legs; they were begging me to leave, to move, to run.

"Why are you scared of me?" Paul asked softly.

He crushed me against him, winding his arms around my body and burying his nose against my hair. I was all too aware of his hard chest, his hips digging into my skin; I couldn't even wiggle without eliciting a reaction from him.

"Can't you see that I would never hurt a single hair on your head?" He mumbled into my hair.

I stayed frozen for a while before the nerves melted and I found myself hugging him back tightly. The words I wouldn't say hung heavy in the pit of my stomach. I wasn't scared of Paul I was scared of myself; scared of how I felt when I touched him or saw him. Scared because when he smiled at me, I felt breathless and dizzy. Scared of how his eyes were a punch of color in a black and white world. I was terrified because whatever I felt would eventually hurt me, it would break me beyond the point of repair. And for once in my life I didn't care; that was enough to scare me away.

"I have to...I have to go." I pulled away from him again and this time he let me.

/~*~\

Paul Lahote

The Cullen family was throwing a graduation party. Jacob had invited himself along, partly because he wanted to piss off the brooding blood sucker and partly because he wanted to apologize to the brooding blood sucker's girlfriend and his 'one and only true love' Bella Swan. I didn't think _she_ would be there, she hated and feared the Cullen family almost as much as she hated and feared me. But lady luck was not on my side because I saw her in the crowd that night. Diana. My beautiful, broken imprint who's water lily scent was tainted by that vampire called Jasper. Her cheek bones were more prominent and her hair was dull. In fact all of her looked dull, even her once bright pink lips were chapped. Staying away from her proved to be impossible, the imprint bond wouldn't allow it. I called her for weeks and even sat outside her house those first couple days. But she was as stubborn as she was talented. I respected her wishes as much as the imprint would allow. That meant awkwardly following her and sleeping outside her house, stealing a few moments with her after Jasper left and the sun's rays were just coming up. She slept peacefully in my arms but I always left before she woke up. And as much as I wanted to rip that demon to shreds, he gave her a temporary solution to her problems.

But Diana would always run. She would keep running and running until there was nothing left. That's who she was. I thought it was beautiful how she kept everything together even as it was falling apart.

/~*~\

Diana Deirdre Byrne

The dust hadn't even settle from that disaster when another problem sprung up. It was the first day of summer break and I had been planning to work on the mural I wanted in my room. Not to mention I had a few more boxes left to unpack and, according to the family lawyer, some possessions back in Boston. My aunt wanted to plan some kind of crazy road trip with the intention of stopping by to pick up the possessions. I was playing devil's advocate and saying no. My life had enough excitement as it is. What with the werewolves and vampires and the big 'P' word. I forced myself to stop thinking about him and continued unpacking boxes. There was a lot of things I could do away with, the mountain of junk in my room was growing exponentially; I was beginning to think I was a hoarder.

"Hey why don't you sell some of those things to your boss?" Debra suggested after peeking into the room.

I gave her a stricken look and she carefully backed out of the room. My poor babies, I could never sell them to the Boss. They would be something the public reveled in discovering decades after my departure from planet Earth. Museums and curators would fight for them, to the death I tell you. After giggling over that slightly disturbing image I continued checking every camera and started separating the working ones, the slightly defective ones and the junk ones. There was probably a hundred freaking feet of unrolled film all in individual canisters. The canisters had dates scrawled on the side and I realized that some of them were very old. Like 'when I first discovered cameras' old. I decided to save a handful and toss the rest back in a box. Remember the museum thing? It's not that deluded. . . I mean Van Gogh's journals were a gold mine. After an uneventful afternoon spent hauling boxes up to the attic and throwing things away, I slowly made my way downstairs in search of food. But the house was empty. There was a small note attached to the front door.

_Gone fishing. Just kidding but I'll be back with some chow in a few. Deb x _

By the time she got back I would probably die of starvation so I trudged into the kitchen, starting on spagbol. I mindlessly went through the actions of cooking, thinking of when I could go down to Port Angeles and starting searching for paint for the mural. It was always smart to test out a color before committing so I knew I would probably do a few versions of the mural before settling on one. But I wasn't deterred, I was actually very excited. This would consume a lot of free time that I would have otherwise spent thinking about a certain person. The doorbell rang just as I was setting my plate out. Great timing Debra, I finish making my stupid food and you come in with more. But to my great pleasure it wasn't my blue eyed aunt who stood on the other side of the door. It was my golden eyed protector. Jasper Hale.

"Good to see you when I'm not screaming in horror." I gave him a slow wink before ushering him in.

He looked a little more tense than usual as we conversed, me trying not to spray chunks of spaghetti on his shirt and he trying to get me to spray chunks by cracking joke after joke.

"So...what's up? I can tell you've got something on your mind." I finally said in the kitchen, I was forcing him to help me clean up.

He fell silent after that and I smiled encouragingly at him.

"It's just that I know you don't want to be involved in all this..." He trailed off.

"I don't have five business day ya know." I bumped hips with him.

Jasper had done so much for me, the very least I could do was lend him an ear when he had a problem. I wanted to be there for him.

"Alice had a vision. The newborn army will be here in two. And I just feel, I don't know. There's so much to protect, so many lives at stake. We're risking people we care about." Jasper sighed.

He was nervous, which was natural. And even though this entire topic put me on edge I understood why I was the only one he could talk about this with. He didn't want to burden or make any of his brothers and sisters feel nervous. I grabbed his shoulders and forced him to face me.

"Jasper you listen carefully. Bella, Alice and your family are all people who will be dead if you lose this fight. Then the innocent humans of Forks and maybe even Port Angeles and La Push." I said.

"I know! Don't you think I already know this?" He tugged roughly on his golden locks, groaning in frustration.

"Ok so it's easy. All you have to do is win."

He looked at me like I grew a second head.

"You're the worst person to get advice or comfort from." Jasper mumbled.

"You will fight and you will win Jazz, precisely because of all those people you care about. The newborns have no one to fight for. You do. Losing isn't an option so don't make it an option." I nudged him softly.

He sighed and I threw my arms around him, squeezing as hard as possible. He probably didn't feel it but I didn't care. Jasper was my friend and he deserved a big hug right now.

"Just so you know you're on that list of people too." He grinned.

"Yeah I better be." I scoffed.

Later that night, after starting on penciling the mural, I found another two more unexpected visitors on my doorstep. Looks I like I was pretty popular these days.

"Paul isn't with us, so don't bother running away." Danie shoved past me.

Kim inched her way in with an apologetic grimace on her face. They both were dressed in pajamas and carried large bags with them. I slowly closed the door after them, only half listening to the argument that broke out between my two friends.

"No Kimmy, she needs to understand that she can't just push people who care about her out of her life! We all had to deal with the wolf problem and we all got through it." I could almost see Danie's blue streaks turning red with rage.

I would be in for a very long night indeed.

"Sleepover from hell." I groaned, making my way over to the phone.

After about ten minutes spent coaxing a furious Danie upstairs, I finally ordered the pizza and pulled out a few of the movies. Kim eventually bullied Danie into apologizing which I was very grateful for. Even if I wasn't the best at expressing how I felt in words I forced myself to choke out a sentence or two.

"It means a lot that you came." I mumbled cryptically.

But Kim and Danie let me get away with it and we watched The Notebook in peace. We took a break to dry our tears and chatted. Danie and Seth were still going through their rough patch. Danie was extremely frustrated with his possessive and childish behavior but the imminent arrival of the newborn army softened her heart. Kim, on the other hand, had very little issues to deal with except for the newborn army. But that was enough to scare and stress anyone. Some tiny, sick and twisted part of me was on edge for what would happen in two days. Then we watched Titanic and at the end of it we were a sobbing, mess of estrogen.

"I have to go do something." Danie shuffled out of the room, clutching her phone tightly.

Kim and I exchanged knowing looks. She had caved and called Seth, a few minutes later she came stuck her head into the room with a big grin on her face.

"I'll be right back. Just gonna go check on your garden." She winked skipping away.

We clambered towards my window to confirm and, sure enough, after a few minutes a tall shadow stepped out of the trees. The much shorter Danie launched herself at the figure and I drew the curtains soon after.

"I'm slightly disgusted yet happy." Kim sunk back under the covers of my blanket and I shrugged.

As long as they didn't have sex back there I was fine.

"So what's up with you?" She finally asked

I blinked, unsure of how to answer her question. There was a lot 'up with me'.

"You don't have to answer but I never imagined you as the kind of person to run away from your problems." Kim said matter-of-factly.

Ugh, did she really have to use that voice and make me feel all guilty?

"You don't get it." I groaned, throwing myself on the floor.

"Yes I do. I had to find out about Jared. Let me guess, right now you're feeling scared and hurt. But try to see it from Paul's perspective for a second. This is the biggest secret anyone could ever have and it comes with a heavy burden. He didn't want to place that on you." She spoke quietly.

How could I tell her I didn't care? That I already forgave Paul? I wasn't running from him I was running from myself. I was too attached to a certain oaf and whatever hurt I felt from him keeping the whole 'I can turn into a wolf' a secret, it would be nothing compared to the inevitable hurt I would feel when I took my feelings of attraction towards him too far. Paul may think he was protecting me but in the end I was protecting myself.

"Just promise me you'll try? The newborn army will be here soon and I don't want anything to happen." Kim sighed deeply before bouncing out of bed to grab the horny teenagers in my backyard.

We tried staying up to watch another chick flick but Kim and Danie ended up falling asleep. I spent the night lying awake. The newborn army. . . I burrowed deeper into my blanket though the shivers I felt weren't temperature related. The next morning we made a big breakfast and lazed around the empty house for a few hours then the girls left me. Debra was playing absentee aunt again, she dropped off Chinese food last night before leaving to spend time with her new beau.

I found myself staring hard at my phone, willing it to ring. In the first couple of weeks of my absence Paul had called nonstop but my phone was becoming more silent lately until the calls had pretty much dwindled to once every two days. Now I wanted him to call so I could answer and just hear his voice. Maybe work up the courage to tell him to be careful tomorrow. I tried to tell myself I didn't give a rats ass what happened to him tomorrow but the reality was I did care. Patrol couldn't possibly prepare them for this, could it? They didn't stand a chance did they? My finger lingered over his number before I finally decided to call him. But after the first two rings I chickened out and hung up, hoping he wouldn't notice.

"Idiot, idiot, fucking dumbass." I panicked when my phone started ringing.

"Hello?"

"Diana." Paul sounded relieved.

"How. . . I mean why? I'm just-"

I stayed silent, letting him fumble for words before cutting him off.

"I need to see you."

And I smiled because it was 100% true, I _needed_ to see him. Not even a phone call could replace this intense desire to see Paul.

"I'm on my way over." The line went dead and I collapsed on the couch, counting the seconds it took for him to show up.

It didn't take long for the front door to be pushed open and for him to come in, wearing a scowl on his angelic face. Paul looked tantalizing in a wife beater, mucked up shorts and hiking boots. He must have been working on his bike because his top was streaked with a dark oil and his fingernails were caked in grease. The most adorable little line of dirt was above his pink lips and I ached to wipe the smudge away.

"How are you?" He spoke in that velvety tone of his, one of the few things about Paul that I could never capture in a painting or a photo.

"I'm fine Paul, I'm gonna be alright. What about you? Tomorrow huh?" I held my bottom lip between my teeth.

"Yes. Tomorrow." He nodded carefully gauging my reaction.

I tried imagining him as that big bad wolf from my dreams, so fierce and invincible; all I could see was him as a human lying dead in a field, surrounded by the other Quileute warriors and the Cullen family, coated in blood. It hurt my gut in a way I didn't even know was possible. The first time I thought something happened to Paul that night on the porch, I cried for hours. But I had a feeling that this would be the needle to break the camel's back.

"Hey, hey." Paul looked bewildered at my swift reaction.

I went from staring blankly at him to letting loose big, hiccup filled sobs. He pulled me in for a hug and I accepted the comfort found in those large arms of his.

"Don't be scared. Everything is going to be fine. I promise I won't let anything happen to you." His words didn't help much.

If anything they made me even more distraught. I should be scared, I should be terrified. But instead I was concerned for him, worried about whether or not I would lose him tomorrow. Somehow the very thought of that made me sick to my stomach.

"I don't know why I-I'm crying." I choked out before I felt him squeezing me tighter.

"Shhh." He shushed me gently.

Except I did know why I was crying. Paul was going to die.

**A/N: **

**I know I'm lousy for being slow to update. Just wanted to take a second to thank those of you who have stuck by me throughout this story and continuously review. I would love it if I could devote every waking moment to this story for you but I lead a very hectic life. Hope you can understand! **

**Lace**


	14. Chapter 14

**Please let me know if you're still having issues with viewing the last chapter or this chapter! I don't know why it's being wonky but if you can't see chapter 13 I'll PM it to you. **

Chapter Fourteen: The Word Of The Day Is Wolf

I forced Paul to sneak in later that night and sleep over. It was a little selfish to ask him to spend his last few hours with me. It disturbed me to admit I was affected by Paul. In fact he affected me more than I ever could have imagined. He stole my attention. The rain and thunder here in Forks screamed, even the fog whispered, his name. He was everywhere, in every picture and drawing; if you looked hard enough you could catch him in the reflection of my eyes. The breath left my lungs with a single one of his looks. But I didn't care, I didn't mind. Who needs to breathe to be alive? Not I. All I needed was Paul and those brown, brown eyes. What a sick obsession it was. Yet I knew nothing about Paul. And he knew even less of me. But tonight I would try to change that.

"Tell me something about yourself." I mumbled hesitantly.

Paul looked shocked for a second before recovering quickly.

"I was born here and I grew up here. My dad split on my mom when she was around seven months along, haven't seen hide or hair of him since." He mumbled.

"Was he a shifter like you?" I blurted without thinking.

Ok I did think about it but I didn't mean to ask about his absentee father. Curiosity got the best of me. I mean who knows, it could be hereditary or something.

"Maybe. I wouldn't know," Paul furrowed his brow, "anyways what about you?"

"You know, the usual orphaned prodigal artist." I said sarcastically and he cracked a grin.

"It must've been hard without a dad." I sobered up quickly.

Paul gave a careless shrug. But I still felt horrible for him. My dad and I hadn't been very close, especially as I got older. The face I shared with my mother got in the way of having a real relationship, but I loved him a lot. If not for the endless shifts he took to support my expensive hobbies, and me I will always love him for the way he loved my mother. He raised me and made me who I am today. Life without my father was impossible to imagine.

"You never told me about your mother." Paul said softly.

"My mom's name was Deirdre, which was her grand mammy's name and my middle name. Her thirty-fifth birthday was a few weeks ago. She had hair darker than my blackest set of paints and her eyes were as light as her hair was dark. I only ever saw pictures of my ma but everyone says we look alike. I don't remember anything about her, but I think about her a lot. My da said he was lucky when he married her that she only picked him for his voice. Apparently he had the voice of an angel. He used to sing me to sleep when I was younger and Paul he did, he really did have a voice of an angel." Once the words started tumbling out, they wouldn't stop.

Paul wiggled lower so that I was laying down near the top half of the bed and he was near the bottom half; his head was pressed into my lap as he hugged my legs to him. I dug one hand into his thick, midnight colored locks. The other hand I ran up and down his back. And do you know what the amazing thing was? I kept talking and stroking and eventually crying, but Paul didn't move or say a word. Not once. It was the nicest thing anyone had done for me.

Eventually the roles reversed and we began exchanging stories and tidbits about our childhoods and fears. Paul told me how his first time shifting felt and I told him about the first serious piece of art I made. Between the heavy topics were the light ones, chatting about the scar on underside of Paul's jaw and my intense aversion to frosting. We spent the rest of the night like that, wrapped up in each other, until the rosy fingertips of dawn lulled me to sleep. And when I woke up, Paul was gone.

/-^-\

The next day I drove up to Port Angeles, ready for a hellish day of work at the photography shop. The Boss was doing major cleaning which meant a full afternoon spent hauling, cataloging and coaxing him to sell a few things; he would spend his day with his feet up, cold iced tea and the dusty record player. But I guess that's why he hired me, so he wouldn't have to work. I was looking forward to it though, anything to keep my mind off the impending battle today. Sure it was a little weird to think while I was dusting off camera lenses, a team of werewolves and vampires were fighting against a freakish army of demons from hell . . .or rather Seattle. But if Lou played the records loud enough and I focused on the junk at hand, I wouldn't think of all that.

"Boss, c'mon just sell a few of these. How're you going to maintain all of them anyway?" I hollered, quickly disassembling a Pentax before cleaning it.

He had five cameras of the same model. Yes I counted.

"It breaks my heart to hear you ask me that." He groaned, pulling out a pack of those infernal Marlboro Reds he smoked.

"You know those are worse for your heart. They don't call them cowboy killers for nothing." I replied dryly.

Second hand smoke was not a pretty thing, so I ran to open a few windows.

"Good thing I'm a photographer and not a cowboy." Lou continued inhaling his choke stick while I went back to organizing.

By the time my third break of the day rolled around I was nearly a fourth of the way through cleaning everything. Meanwhile Lou hadn't even put a dent into his record collection. Fate would stick me with a hoarder for a boss. A tuna melt sandwich and ice cold Pepsi later, I took out my phone to see more than a few missed calls from Danie. I practically choked when I saw the time. It was nearly eight in the evening. By this time all the Kung Fu fighting should be over. It seemed I was a little too good at avoiding my problems. But why had Danie called me so many times . . . unless something happened. She wouldn't call unless it was important; Danie wasn't a phone person as much as a 'talk your ear off in real life' person. She had good news, bad news or horrible news to give me. The good news could be that the Cullen vampires and La Push wolves had won the fight. The bad news could be that they had won the fight but sustained injuries. And although I like to think that wouldn't bother me, the thought of anyone getting hurt made me sick to my stomach. Even Rosalie. The horrible news would be that they lost and Danie had been calling me frantically to report the death toll and to warn me to get the hell out of town. In that case I had a bag packed in the hatchback for Debra and I.

"I have to take off Lou. Tomorrow's my day to pick the music though, don't forget." I whipped off the apron and nametag, nearly tripping on my way out.

"Drive safely!" He called back.

I waved bye before throwing myself into the hatchback and burning rubber. I was eager to get back to La Push but nervous for what I would find when I did. What if Paul . . .

"Stop." I shook my head furiously, trying to physically shake the thought out of my head.

The car swerved into the adjacent lane and I straightened the wheel quickly, ignoring several blaring horns. I turned the radio on; blasting whatever was playing as an attempt to keep my thoughts away from the worst-case scenario. But it did little to distract me; still I crossed into La Push territory without any other near accidents. When I pulled into the Black residence there were several cars parked outside, including a shiny and out of place BMW. I hopped out of the car, barely taking two steps before tripping onto the hood of the hatchback. Nearly everyone was gathered on the porch, bathing in the light of the moon. I did a quick tally and realized only one person was missing. Who was it?

Jared stood off to the side and Kim was wrapped around his waist. Sam stood with his hands massaging his neck; his face was lined with worry. Emily was fussing over the younger boys, Brady and Colin. Danie looked equally distraught, her hands were wringing the edge of her shirt. Seth stood beside Danie, whispering something in her ear. I almost missed Leah and Paul arguing in the corner. The sight of his muscular, shirtless back nearly brought tears to my eyes.

"Paul!" I cried out, practically throwing myself at him.

He gently caught me, surprise written all over his face whilst I yanked him into a bone-crushing hug.

"I thought you were . . ." I couldn't finish the sentence.

Paul set me down for a second, I took the opportunity to fiercely inspect him for wounds or bruises, and before I could finish he was already pulling me up into the crook of his neck. My converse clad feet were planted on top of his bare ones.

"I'm fine. I'm alright." He mumbled into my hair.

After several minutes I heard an agonizing scream. It was coming from inside the Black house. My eyes must have looked like saucers when I realized who was missing and whom the screams were coming from.

"Jacob?" I whispered to Paul.

He gave me a grim look of confirmation.

"What happened? Is he alright?" I placed my palms against Paul's chest, pulling away slightly.

"God, what was he thinking? I had it!" Leah burst out suddenly.

"Leah that's enough." Sam warned carefully.

She scoffed before stalking off towards the tree line. A few seconds later there was another scream and I blinked slowly. What was going on in there?

"A newborn pinned Leah and Jake jumped in without thinking. The damn thing grabbed him from the back and broke all his ribs." Paul explained.

"I thought you guys were fast healers." I winced when Jacob's screams gave way to choked sobs.

"We are," He nodded, "his ribs healed crooked so Carlisle has to break them again and set them so this time they heal correctly."

Break all his ribs, again? My throat suddenly felt dry and I struggle to swallow. Paul grabbed my hand and led me farther away from the house. I stumbled after him, still disturbed by the tortured noises coming from Jacob.

"It'll be alright, everything is going to be okay." He sighed quietly.

He began regaling me with stories of the battle, toying with my hair all the while. I wanted to be distracted and absorbed by his touch but our conversation was punctuated with screams. Eventually the screaming stopped and then another car joined the BMW. It was the disgustingly rusted truck that belonged to none other than Bella Swan. She raced out of her truck, only pausing to have a brief conversation with Billy before entering the house. I couldn't stop the brief shot of anger I felt towards her. That stupid freakish vampire army had been after her. All of these boys had put their lives on the line to protect her. What if someone had died?

"Are you angry?" Paul asked abruptly.

"Incredibly. You guys almost died for one little girl." I didn't even hesitate to say it.

Again, I had no tact. He looked a little shocked. I'm sure he was expecting anger directed towards him. After a few seconds of silence he finally spoke.

"It's our duty to protect the people in this town, no matter what. You, your aunt, all those little twats from school and Bella. Everyone. It's the way it is." Paul said solemnly.

I knew that. It didn't make me any less angry. Or scared. This was his job. It came with the package. Tall, dark, handsome and occasionally puts his life at risk for the greater good. After Bella left the rest of the group slowly poured into the Black's house to thank Carlisle, check on Jacob and offer condolences to Billy. I slowly walked in their small home, feeling very out of place. Danie looked right at home; she joked with Jacob for a bit and even gave Billy a big hug. I hung back feeling unsure of how I fit into this dynamic. While I had been holed up in my house and hiding from everyone, Danie had been making her place in the La Push . . . pack I guess. Not just as Seth's girlfriend but as their little sister almost.

"Come on." Paul motioned for me to enter the room.

Jacob was lying on a little bed. He was covered in a cast and buckets of sweat; a ridiculous amount of morphine was on an IV drip connected to his arm but he still looked like he was in pain.

"Hey." I smiled timidly.

"Long time no see." Jacob replied hoarsely, returning my smile.

I giggled nervously and asked him how he felt. Jacob played off the pain to which Paul laughed sardonically.

"You're not impressing anyone in here or within a hundred mile radius. We all heard you screaming." I pinched Paul viciously after that little comment.

We both wished Jacob a speedy recovery, well I wished him while Paul complained loudly about having to pick up his shifts for patrol, before ducking out to let him sleep. Billy accepted our hugs and made me promise to show my face more. I didn't want to offend him so I went along with it, even if I still felt a little odd.

No Diana, I reminded myself, they risked their lives to protect yours. Jacob got hurt because of it. The least I could do was swallow my pride and say hi to Billy and Jacob every once in a while.

Oh how I would regret that promise.

/-^-\

I spent the next few weeks dropping off horribly made desserts for Jacob and Billy. Jacob had long since recovered but it seemed he was still off patrol duty for a while. He explained that it was in case shifting into his wolf caused any stress on his still fragile bones. It reminded me that while the La Push boys were strong they weren't invincible. Either that or Jacob wanted a few more days of rest. I dropped off the desserts with the hope that I could sneak away but Paul, Embry and usually another person would come knocking on the front door as I was leaving. I was starting to think either Jacob or Billy was ratting me out. Honestly it might have been both of them.

Paul would suggest going for a hike or a swim, which I would always turn down. Then Embry would suggest it but practically force me to say yes, threatening to tell my aunt about our supposed liaisons in the forest. At first I laughed off the threats but then one day he said he would use my naked photo of Paul as proof. That shut me up real quick.

Which meant I had to increasingly deal with the obnoxious Paul and loud Embry.

/-^-\

"Hey stranger." I heard a voice call out.

I turned around to find Bella and Edward, walking hand in hand. I gave her the once over and when I saw the slightly red lips and ruffled hair I practically gasped. They had just been kissing. Of course. I mean it's Friday night and Port Angeles has plenty of couples crawling around this time.

"Good to see you alive and well." I managed to say, avoiding Edward's eyes.

I always forgot that fancy little mind reading trick he had, which meant he had heard my thoughts about them kissing and was probably listening to me kick myself over it now.

"You too." She nodded.

Only I knew she was lying because I didn't look well, hell I barely looked alive. My sleep cycle was still fucked and I still had nightmares. Jasper was doing everything he could but he could only do so much. I hadn't even bothered to call him all week because every time he came he would preach to me about facing my fear. I didn't really get what he meant at first because I had been spending a lot of time with Paul lately. Granted it was always with others, Embry or Jared and Kim and sometimes even Danie and Seth. Wasn't that enough? According to Jasper it wasn't. I needed to face Paul the Wolf not just Paul the Man. You can see why I would hesitate to do that.

"What brings you to Port Angeles?" Edward's question brought me back from my musings quickly.

"Oh I work here in a photography shop." I pointed towards the dark building I just came out of.

"That's cool. Jasper told us you're an amazing artist." Bella smiled sincerely.

"Oh I don't know about all that," I snorted, "but I've got to head home. Enjoy the rest of your night."

I made a beeline for my car, not bothering to listen for a goodbye. What an awkward encounter.

Later that night I was painting my nails with my aunt. It was our girls night, something she invented to spend more time with me. I, of course, invited Kim and Danie. My aunt invited her friend Susan. After burning our taste buds off with pad Thai, we began discussing what was apparently a 'must' in every sleep over. Boys.

"None of you guys are having unprotected sex are you?" Debra asked casually.

Kim and I both choked on our noodles while Danie smiled like a Cheshire cat. Leave it up to Debra.

"Cause if you're doing it raw then please at least take the pill. An STD is one thing but a baby . . ." Her friend Susan chimed in.

I just about screamed when she said that. Looks like I wouldn't have any help in roping in my wild aunt tonight.

"Jared and I aren't there yet." Kim coughed politely.

"Really? Seth and I are. But I totally tested him before we did anything and he knows not to come near me unless he's wrapped up." Danie supplied easily.

I about fainted at the thought of little Seth and her going at it like rabbits. She was ruining the poor kid's innocence!

"I thought you guys were still mad at each other?" Kim mumbled.

"Danie wait, how did you test him that night in Embry's truck?" I suddenly remembered.

"We're over that now and puh-lease Di, all I did that night was bl-" I shot up out of the room, screaming nonsense before she could finish her sentence.

They all burst into laughter, except for Kim bless her soul. Danie, my aunt and Susan were a deadly combo. When I got back they all looked at me expectantly.

"I'm not having sex with anyone right now, there's no one I would even consider doing anything sexual with!" I blurted out before scooping another chopstick full of noodles into my mouth.

"What about Cameron?" Danie accused.

"Or Embry?" My aunt wiggled her eyebrows.

"Paul?" Kim squeaked.

I sent them all hateful glares, especially Kim.

"Cameron and Embry are just friends, Paul is . . . I don't know what he is but he's not anything to do with sex." I dismissed.

Speaking of Cameron I hadn't hung out or heard from him in a while. We exchanged friendly texts but I continuously blew him off whenever he asked to hang out. Honestly it wasn't cause of all the drama that had happened, although that was a big part of it, it was mostly because I knew he wanted more. Love triangles were messy and La Push had enough of those, if anything Embry had told me was true. I couldn't deal with two guys trying to screw me. Especially when one of them was a werewolf. My phone buzzed, interrupting the disturbing conversation at hand.

_From Jasper: _

_I thought we were working on your avoidance problems..._

Ah shit. Way to ruin the night even more with a guilt trip. I quickly tapped back a reply, careful not to let Debra see. She would kill me if she knew I was texting.

_Oops I thought it was the nightmares we were working on: p _

A few seconds later I heard another buzz and snuck a glance at my phone.

_From Jasper:_

_How's sleeping without your trusty medication?_

I didn't know if I was being paranoid but it sounded really harsh. Is that what Jasper thought? That I only liked him for his abilities? I actually considered him a friend. I immediately sent him as heartfelt a reply as my stupid nature would allow me.

_You're more than a good nights sleep. _

_From Jasper: _

_Prove it _

And as skeptical as I was to his request I answered 'ok' because Jasper's friendship meant a lot to me. He had been there for me at a time when I was convinced I needed no one.

_From Jasper:_

_Face your fears, face the wolf _

/-^-\

How could I have let this happen? Stupid, stupid girl. When Jasper told me to face my fears I should've just sent him an "loljk" and stopped texting him. But no, I had to be a decent person and go out of my way to show him I cared. Even if it meant this. "This" was subjecting myself to gradual exposure of my biggest fear.

"Okay Di! I'm going to do it." Paul tossed his shirt off and his rippling muscles mesmerized me for a brief second.

"Aooww!" Embry howled playfully as Paul stepped out of his shorts.

I squeezed my eyes shut and told myself to get a grip. I could handle seeing him. . . I'd done it before. I opened them and realized quite some time had passed; everyone had been waiting on me. Paul stood, completely nude, hands over his jewels and looking a little uncomfortable.

"O-okay, go ahead I'm ready!" I called back, sounding not the least bit 'ready'.

He let go of his ahem, not-so-little guy, and rolled his shoulders. I squeaked and slapped a hand over my eyes just as a tremor ran through him. Not a second later, Embry was wrenching my hands away from my face and pointing excitedly at the massive wolf that stood in place of Paul.

"Holy shit." I breathed, stumbling as Embry pulled me back to my spot.

Run Diana, book it! My brain was yelling at me but Embry wouldn't let go. Paul the Wolf ambled towards us and I was more than a little pissed that even as a 'gruesome terrifying creature' he was beautiful. His fur was silky steel color and his eyes were a lighter hazel. I reminded myself to keep looking at his eyes, they were the only part of him that didn't scream 'gigantic wolf beast that can tear pathetic five foot human girls to pieces'. In fact they were oddly human, evoking the same feelings in me that his amber and chocolate human counterparts did.

"That's enough for today." I said as I realized Paul was only a few feet away from me.

He phased back immediately and covered himself before running back for his shorts.

"You did good today." Embry shot up and drew a line on the dirt where Paul the Wolf previously stood.

It was about a foot closer than yesterday's line and leaps and bounds away from last week's line. Following Jasper's advice and confronting my 'fear' was much easier said than done but after working at it, I was (I must admit) glad that I did. My nightmares had all but ceased and I spent nearly every waking moment with Paul. Even when he got on my nerves and I kicked him out (which happened a lot), he would come back apologizing and begging me to let him stay. He claimed that it felt 'funny' to be away from me; when I tried to get him to explain he would feign confusion. It was still a little weird to hang out with him so often. Not too long ago it had taken his life being in danger for me to even call him. Now it was like I couldn't take two steps without him nearby.

"Can you go home?" I asked through a mouthful of sandwich that Paul had made.

I may or may not have swiped it off him.

"You just use me for my sandwich making skills and hot looks." He pouted playfully.

I gave him a blank stare before slowly bringing my sandwich back up for a bite.

"You're not hot." I flatly stated.

Except with the crap in my mouth it came out "yoo ot haw". Paul shot me a wicked grin and slowly lifted his shirt up, revealing that torso sculpted by god himself. I didn't even realize my jaw was unhinged until he smiled smugly at me.

"If that's your way of attracting me. . . it sure is different than how most girls do it." Paul sniggered.

"I don't want to attract you I want to repel you!" I opened my mouth periodically, giving him a clear view of the grotesque, saliva covered shit in my mouth.

"C'mon kid, you'll have to do more than that to gross me out. I'm unfortunately friends with savages, remember?"

"Speaking of your boyfriends, don't they miss you? Why don't you run along and visit them?" I groaned.

"No need to sound so jealous, you know you're my one and only." Paul winked lazily.

Instead of replying or paying attention to my dumb heart, which decided to conveniently miss a beat, I just opened my mouth again to reveal more chewed up food.

**A/N: **

**Chapter 13 had a lot of time skipping since I didn't want Diana to suddenly get over her fear of wolves/Paul but I also didn't want 3 chapters dedicated to avoiding her problems (not fun to read or write) so if you feel like there's been a 180 in the way she acts remember TIME SKIPPING aka Di has spent a lot of time struggling with her emotions. **

**Gah okay after chapter 15 I will definitely go back and do major revision of previous chapters for grammar errors (there will probably be a lot), inconsistencies, spelling, flow etc. I'm a night owl so I do a lot around two or three in the morning, which isn't exactly ideal in terms of how coherent I am lol.**

**This story has so far kept with the original plot but I'm cooking up a few ideas to stray away from it. I'm a little interested in your thoughts on that. Feel free to pm me. **

**Decided to end things here on a fluffy note. And no, your eyes do not deceive you I have updated a mere 3 days later. 15 will be out in a week and a half. But 16 might take longer since I'm going to start revising. **

**Please review! **

**Xx**

**Not-So-**Lacey**-With-Updates ;) **


End file.
